Occulta Rising
by Ezekiel Zeta Stigma
Summary: Just an average day in the world and in Area 11...but not for long. Overnight the royal Britannian family is all but gone, armies from unknown nations have invaded, and Lelouch and his friends are caught in a crossfire. But without even a Geass, and Ashford Academy demolished, Lelouch must use everything at his disposal to protect those who are important to him.
1. A Serpent's Fangs

**Occulta Rising**

Level 1 Message from Jahrtausend Division to Alexander Daemon

_Preparations are complete Lord Daemon. The Sons of the Serpent are in position and are ready for their mission._

_The Targets have been selected, one of whom is handling an invasion in the Middle East._

_Jahrtausend Division in position over China._

_X Division and Arcane Division are still four days away from being ready for there part._

_Operation: Aryan Thunder still needs an effective guidance system._

_Also, the secondary target in Japan has been effectively scouted and plans made to be forwarded to you._

_Operation: Adam's Heel will commence on your signal._

_Hail the Millennium _

**Area 11, Settlement**

"Eh…was that our fault?"

Lelouch and Rivalz dismounted their motorcycle (with a side car attached) an observed the damage of the car wreck they just caused.

Truthfully, it wasn't their fault. A truck was driving up exceedingly fast, as though the driver was on a tight schedule. They attempted to drive out of the way, but the truck swerved in the other direction, off the main road and onto a construction site, where the truck ran into some of the metal girders. From their spot on the side of the highway, the damage looked considerably minor. Lelouch blinked and thought he saw a gentle glitter of gold light being emitted from the truck.

"Hey, Rivalz, come check this out," said Lelouch, removing his shades.

"Hey, over here!" He turned to his left and noticed that a large group of people have gathered.

"Whoa, nasty crash!"

"What happened? Some sort of accident?"

"Probably a drunk driver."

"It's always some moron."

"Hey, maybe someone ought to go help."

Those idiots! Lelouch thought in disgust, eyeing the growing crowd of on-lookers, taking pictures with their cell phones or creating gossip. Throwing his helmet and shades in the side car, Lelouch ran down the ramp and toward the truck.

"Look, the student rescue team has arrived."

"So like, why doesn't anyone call for help? You know?"

Oh shut up! You're not helping!

"Hey! Are you alright?" he called through the debris that blocked his way to the door. He then climbed up the ladder on the side and called out again. "Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

…_it's you…_ Lelouch froze, a sudden sensation coming over his body. _…finally I have found my…_ What the heck?

A moment went by, and then…

Lelouch flew forward and into the opening on the roof of the trailer as the truck lurched backwards. He landed hard on the floor as the truck and trailer reversed direction and began driving off.

"Stop!" Lelouch called out, "I'm in here!"

**Pendragon, capital of the Holy Britannian Empire**

In the office of the Pendragon News Network, a package arrived without a return address. The package was opened to reveal a video disc and a letter. When the program executive read the letter, he rushed to the nearest studio and ordered that the disc be played at the beginning of the next broadcast.

In the Pendragon market place, Guinevere su Britannia and three bodyguards were browsing the various goods and stalls disguised as normal Britannian citizens. A short distance behind them, a figure wearing a green jacket, a handkerchief tied around his neck, and hood watched them, hands in his pockets. His eyes briefly alighted on two of the four men wearing similar garb and silently watching the entire scene, not just him and the target. _Come on_, he thought, _give me a chance, a chance to rid that cursed piece of sin from Eden_.

Back at the Pendragon News Network, the anchor announced that a message has been sent to the station with instructions to immediately broadcast a video for the sake of the world and the North American continent. The disc was then inserted into the broadcast computer and the video started playing, revealing a man in a green uniform and beret with a strong jaw and burning eyes. Behind him was a strange symbol which looked something like the head of a snake, yellow outline on green.

"Greetings people of the world and of Eden. You may identify me as Commander Diamondback. I am the current leader of the Sons of the Serpent. We are here to make things right in accordance to military Operation: Adam's Heel. Over the centuries, the North American continent has been contaminated by Sin. This Sin has ruined America and the rest of the world as a result. This effect must be reversed."

Back in the market place, the young man in green raised his hood. A small gathering of female adolescents passed in-between him and Guinevere su Britannia. He started forward, gently wrapping around the group of giggling students playing hooky.

"And there is only one sure way to eliminate Sin from Eden…"

There was a minute clicking sound that came from the young man's wrist as he broke into a run, straight at one of Guinevere's bodyguards. The undercover guard spun around in time for the stranger to leap up, run one of his feet into the guards waist, forcing the guard down and back, slam the other foot on the guard's shoulder, and launch himself into the air toward Guinevere with spread-eagled arms.

_"…complete and absolute extermination."_

The last thing that came to the eyes and senses of Guinevere su Britannia, First Princess of the Britannian Imperial Family, was a green-garbed figure followed by an intense pain in her neck and blackness. She never felt the ground she fell on, her assassin astride her torso with a razor sharp blade in her neck. There was a pause, where almost everyone in the immediate area looked and froze for what would seem to be half an hour. And then…

The bodyguards reacted, all charging in to tackle the killer. The green garbed assassin spun to his feet, arms extended as blades on his wrists sliced open injuries on one of the bodyguards' legs and on another bodyguard's stomach. Shots rang out as the assassin's comrades came forward and fired their handguns at the bodyguards, who dropped to the ground like flies. People screamed as they ran to get away from the scene.

_Running from the scene of the crime_, one of the Serpent soldiers thought with mild humor, _it's just so easy to get accused of terrorism nowadays._

"In the name of Eden!" the assassin declared to the fleeing crowd, "for the garden of paradise that's called: America!"

"Britannia, I have no idea how you came to control this place, but you will pay the price equivalent to the lives you have destroyed by simply coming to America. The Republic must rise, the prolonged monarchy shall be extinguished, and Eden shall once again prosper where it should be…

_…__in the Supreme United States of America!__"_

**Airspace over the Middle East**

The door to the navigation deck of the airship opened and a messenger came in.

"Lord Daemon."

Standing with his nose almost touching the windshield, Alexander Daemon cocked his head to one side, raising an ear.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Operation: Adam's Heel has begun with success. The Sons of the Serpent have just assassinated the Guinevere su Britannia, and they are about to eliminate the other targets."

"Very good," Alexander replied. "As much as I hate to consort with low-level terrorists with a wayward cause, they are quite capable of achieving their side of the bargain." He turned around to return to his seat, then before he sat down, he spun around again, holding his hand out in a dictating gesture that few men have even dared to imitate. "Let's help out those cobra fodders one last time!"


	2. The Boa's Bite

**Area 11, Settlement**

"Damn, you think these guys would put a ladder on the inside too," Lelouch said in mild frustration.

"Stop the vehicle!" What, that sounds like a voice over a loudspeaker. "Surrender now and you can get the chance to defend yourself in court!" The sound of bullets impacting the ground echoed from outside.

"Well that's just great!" Lelouch said to himself, "To get out of here I either have the chance of breaking my neck or getting shot." The light dimmed as the truck went into a tunnel. There was a sudden hiss as a door opened. Lelouch flattened himself against what appeared to be a container of some sort, holding his breath hoping that whoever entered wouldn't kill him if he was found out.

"Can you enter the subway via the Ozabu route?" Lelouch leaned forward a little to see a red-headed girl getting rid of her outer layers of clothing to reveal a flight harness.

"Kallen wait!" squawked a voice from the communicator on the ground. The girl froze on the verge of entering the cockpit of a Knightmare Frame.

"What is it?"

"Um…what the heck? I don't know what happened, but the helicopters that were pursuing us just broke off the pursuit and went off."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure, clear skies and no other signs of the Britannian authorities." The girl sat down on the steps to the Knightmare. I've seen her before, Lelouch realized, but from where?

The communicator on the floor beeped multiple times. The girl reached for the communicator and flipped a switch.

"Ohgi, what's going on? This channel is risky!"

"It doesn't matter now," said a different voice from the radio.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Big news from the Britannian mainland, a terrorist group just declared war on the whole of Britannia."

"Yeah, and, so, what makes you think this is good news for us?"

"There's more…the group in question has already assassinated one of the Britannian Royals."

"What, no way!"

Lelouch blinked in astonishment, almost disbelief; was this for real?

"Listen," the voice, Ohgi, continued, "rendezvous back at our base and I'll fill you in on the rest when you get there. Ohgi out."

**Pendragon, Main Palace Citadel**

"Your highness!" A messenger rushed onto the balcony. Emperor Charles zi Britannia stood viewing over the city below.

"So it's true? Guinevere su Britannia is dead?"

"Yes my lord, I am truly sorry." The Emperor gave a heavy sigh.

"Well at least we know who's responsible. Hmm?" It seemed as though the very air in front of the Emperor shimmered briefly. What is that low whirring sound I hear? Charles thought to himself. He may have been old, but he wasn't crazy. That is…until three helicopters, all green and bearing the mark of the Serpent, materialized in mid-air.

"This…is who killed Guinevere?" the Emperor asked, shaking from head to foot.

A fuselage door slid open and a man wearing an all-green uniform and balaclava leaned out.

"The British Isles are across the Atlantic, you Eden-defiling INTERLOPERS!" The guns on the helicopters began to spin, as the Son of the Serpent spoke, until-

[Indestructible (Indestructible album / Disturbed) - Play 0:34]

-they fired.

Both the Emperor and the messenger were both killed instantly as the bullets from the three sets of gattling-guns ripped through the walls and floors of the citadel, causing a very small section of the structure to collapse. Several rockets were fired as well, increasing the damage.

Charles zi Britannia – Eliminated

**South American continent**

Three identical black cars headed north on the highway. One of the Serpents popped out of a hole in the road ahead of the cars and fired an RPG. The rocket-propelled-projectile hit its mark, destroying the first car in line. The two other vehicles swerved to avoid the first. The second screeched to a stop on the side of the road as the third sped past. The Serpent grabbed a second RPG and fired at the car that stopped, which was engulfed in flame upon impact. The third car continued onward only to be riddled with machine gun bullets that punctured the tires and caused it to roll over multiple times to the other side of the road. Three more members of the Sons of the Serpent almost immediately rushed forward and shot three more RPGs at the upside-down wreck.

Carine le Britannia – Eliminated

**Falkland Islands**

A door was kicked down and two Serpents stormed in as three others stood guard outside. Twenty-four rounds of shotgun slugs later, the Serpents left.

Gabrielle la Britannia – Eliminated

**Philippines**

Odysseus eu Britannia and his security detail were on their way to Odysseus' personal transport. He had to get back to the Homeland. Suddenly an official ran out of the building toward the First Prince.

"My Lord! Stop! Urgent news! The main palace in Pendragon has been attacked!" Odysseus spun around, a look of disbelief on his face.

"What? That's just impossible! Is my father-" Three simultaneous sniper shots silenced him. The security detail and everyone else began running for cover as the snipers continued firing down on them.

Odysseus eu Britannia – Eliminated

**Queen Elizabeth Islands**

"Target confirmed," said the Serpent with a targeting laser pointed at a costal house, "give that British swine Hellfire."

A short distance away, a helicopter launched an AGM-114 Hellfire missile. The aim was true and the house was wiped off the map.

Marianne vi Britannia – Eliminated

**Britannian Caribbean Naval Base**

The entire base was on high alert. After hearing about the deaths of Guinevere, Gabrielle, and the aerial attack on the capital, Second Prince Schneizel ordered the base to prepare for possible assault. Smart move considering Schneizel was also an obvious target.

"My lord."

"What is it?" Schneizel asked the messenger.

"First Prince Odysseus has been assassinated."

"What? How?"

"Three sniper shots to the head, simultaneously." This made Schneizel shake with both fear and fury.

"Damn it, they think they could just appear out of now where and wipe the Britannian Royal Family of the face of the Earth without any repercussions? I CURSE you, Sons of the Serpent; may you LOSE EVERYTHING after you ACCOMPLISHED your GOALS!"

Schneizel's communicator squawked as the base's command center hailed him.

"My lord, underwater sensors indicate a large unknown presence near the docks. You have to get away from there!"

"Get away from what?" Schneizel demanded in reply.

A huge roar answered his question as a large bi-pedal machine, twice as big as your average Knightmare Frame and of a design that was completely unknown by any standard. Along the side of the blue/green-tinted metal, was bold black lettering: M.G. – LORA

[Indestructible - 2:17]

The front of the machine then opened to emit a terrible mechanical shriek. The Britannian forces started to scramble, but too late. A laser fired from the opening in the head as multiple rockets were launched from the machines' shoulder blades. The rockets then begun rotating in mid-air, releasing additional explosive projectiles that rained down on the full area of the base. Having accomplished its goal, the pilot of the M.G. – LORA turned the machine around, and dove back into the bay.

Schneizel el Britannia – Eliminated

[Indestructible - 2:41]

**Middle East**

"Cornelia!"

"What is it Guilford?" Second Princess Cornelia asked her Knight as she climbed into her personal Knightmare Frame.

"The enemy forces, they've just been annihilated!"

"What? By who? Who took care of them for us? China? European Forces?"

"No, it appears to be someone else altogether. I can't tell from this distance, but…oh…god no! Cornelia! You've got to get out of here! Run-" An explosion cut off Guilford's transmission.

"Guilford? Guilford!" Cornelia's mind raced, she has just lost her Knight and she if not everyone else here was in danger. "All units scramble! We move to the south to the ocean. Hurry!"

She launched her Knightmare only to witness a terrible sight. About 20 or 30 machines, almost identical but not the same as the Knightmares, accompanied by a low-flying airship. Missiles, bullets, and apparent laser blasts were everywhere, and this new enemy moved faster and stronger than any force that Britannia has ever faced.

[Indestructible - 2:57]

Just as Cornelia was about to intervene, a different machine from the ones that plagued the battlefield appeared and sliced off the main arm of her Knightmare. A light lit up on the front of the machine began to signal.

_G - U - A - N - T - L - E - T - - T - H - R - O - W - N - /_

The front of the machine then opened and a masked figure in an all white outfit stepped out.

"Okay then," Cornelia said to herself, "if _that's _the way you want to do things, then fine by me." She opened the cockpit and rode the cable to the ground to face the unknown foe.

[Indestructible - 3:18]

They charged toward each other, Cornelia firing her combat pistol at her opponent before the other pilot drew a curved and well tempered blade of steel. Their swords met in a shower of sparks as a few flaming pieces of a Knightmare Frame showered the desert sand, so much smoke and embers rising into the sky that it looked like a scene from Purgatory. Whenever Cornelia thought she had the upper hand, her opponent would suddenly and smoothly change tactics on her.

He was basically _toying _with her! Like how a cat would play with its food.

Time suddenly seemed to slow down as her opponent leapt back and spun around, swinging his sword down and about. The opponent then pointed the hilt of the sword at her and shifted his fingers as though he was to shoot a gun.

[Indestructible - 3:40]

There was a gunshot and a small bullet entered Cornelia's right shoulder. She cried out as the pain registered and was forced back from the force of the impact.

No, she thought, this was not an overwhelming threat to Britannia. This was a clear and present danger to all the nations of the world.

She moved her sword to her left hand as the opponent continued to fight, only lazily batting at her blade with one-handed strokes.

[Indestructible - 4:00]

Then with a quick succession of motions, her opponent knocked her sword out of her hands, kicked her back a few paces, spun around again, then drove a dagger into a place right below her rib cage.

She fell to the ground, blood beginning to color the sand. The opponent knelt next to Cornelia and felt her neck for a pulse. Then he took a small card from one of his pockets, and left tucked in the sleeve of her combat jacket.

[Indestructible - 4:20]

"A great power is rising, too bad it isn't going to be you _or_ us…Sin of Eden." The figure then laughed, and walked back to his machine. The whole Britannian taskforce was now no where to be seen. What was left to be seen of them was blackened metal and burning steel.

Cornelia li Britannia – Eliminated

[Indestructible - End]


	3. The Viper's Venom

**Area 11, Shinjuku Ghetto**

The truck had stopped and the side of the trailer had opened up. The only good thing about this, Lelouch thought, was that all he had to do was walk out of there without being seen.

"So it's true?" the girl asked, "one of Britannia's royals has been assassinated?"

"More than that," an obnoxious voice answered, "whoever the Sons of the Serpent are, they mean business."

"Yeah, except that they might not be able to stop," said another voice, this one more solemn.

"What do you mean, what happened?" asked the girl again.

"Four of Britannia's royals; Guinevere, Gabrielle, Odysseus, and Schneizel have been reported dead."

"No way."

"Also, there's a good chance that the Emperor himself is dead."

"The Emperor, but why?"

"The group responsible, identified as: The Sons of the Serpent, also staged an aerial attack on the Britannian Royal Palace."

"Oh dear God! But what about here? What about Japan?"

"Clovis has just declared a state of emergency. All transportation to and from Area 11 has been halted and martial law has been put into effect. So far the military has remained out of the Ghettos, probably because Clovis doesn't want to antagonize the Japanese population into taking advantage of the chaos."

"Hmpf! Like we even care about that."

"Five down!"

"What?"

"It has just been confirmed that Carine le Britannia has been killed in South America!"

"Damn, maybe they won't stop."

"Well they haven't come to Japan yet. Maybe they're scared of this place or something."

"Whatever the case is, we can't just ign-"

Lelouch's cell phone rang.

**Ashford Academy**

The sound of ringing changed to a low-sounding tone that was anything but encouraging.

"What?" Shirley Finnett asked herself in fustration, "I can't believe it, that boy actually hung up on me!" She was about to put her phone away, still fuming, when something odd occurred.

It gave off a couple of high-sounding beeps and the screen showed a text message.

_urgent business_

_meet at Student Council meeting room_

Shirley held her phone up and stared at the message. This couldn't be from Lelouch, especially sense if it was important he would've CALLED HER. The message then disappeared and was replaced by another.

_Lelouch's well-being _

_is at risk - CED_

Lelouch, she thought, her heart beginning to pick up speed. She had absolutely no idea who this CED is, but if it was for Lelouch then it was worth, at least, a quick look.

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

Lelouch strained against the ropes holding him to a wooden chair, but it was obviously no use. These guys were real terrorists not just a group of ragtag deviants.

"You?" the girl inquired in a tone along the lines of shock and anger if not annoyance.

"You known this guy?" asked a guy with long brown hair, Lelouch recognized his voice as the one who was most likely driving the truck when Lelouch and the girl were in the trailer.

"His name is Lelouch Lamperouge, he's the vice president of the Ashford Academy Student Body."

"Kallen!" Lelouch said in recognition, now he knew why she was so familiar. "Your name Kallen Stadtfeld, now all those frequent and unexplained absences make sense now."

"Don't you dare call me by that name while you're here!" Kallen demanded, getting up in his face. "My real name is Kallen Kozuki, I'm Japanese!"

"What? No way, you come from a bono fide Britannian family. Unless you were…oh." Another realization soon dawned on him. "You're a half-blood?" Kallen regained her composure and nodded in satisfaction. "Not by birth, but that is an accurate description as any."

"Well that aside," spoke the man wearing a rust-colored leather jacket, "what are we supposed to do with him? The most effective way to fix this would be to kill him. But we can't exactly do that with martial law being enforced on the city, an investigation would be inevitable. We could keep him here, but there would also be an investigation."

"We could send him back to the school," suggested a woman with long dark hair. "Kallen could keep an eye on him."

"Well whatever we do, we need to do it today!" said a guy with short brown hair who appeared to have the obnoxious tone Lelouch overheard when he was still in the trailer.

"Take it easy Tamaki," the one with the jacket spoke up again. "it isn't like our lives are in immediate danger. We just need to keep our heads and-"

A loud clang followed by a hiss made everyone look toward the orb-like container that was still in the trailer.

"The gas!" someone shouted.

"Take cover!" Kallen yelled as a bright yellow light began to show through cracks on the container.

"Not in immediate danger my ass!" Tamaki cried out in hysterics as he took a running dive into large crate. The terrorists scrambled for any sort of cover, two or three of them placing handkerchiefs around their mouths and covering their nostrils. Lelouch struggled for one last bid for freedom only to fall forward onto the concrete floor, still attached to the chair.

This is it, he thought, I'm going to die here. He thought about Nunnally, his friends at Ashford, and about his ambitions, all up in smoke because of the eradication of the Britannian royal family and this stupid container of gas.

The orb opened up, light shown everywhere, almost blinding him. He strained his eyes one last time and saw…a girl.

A girl with long green hair, body encased in what could be best described as a modified straight-suit. The girl leaned back, eyes making contact with his, and fell out of the container and onto her back as she landed on the floor of the trailer. The light dissipated and everything was silent. Nobody moved, or spoke.

"What the hell just happened?" Tamaki asked.

**Ashford Academy**

Shirley entered the Student Council room to see that Milly Ashford, Nina Einstein, and Nunnally Lamperouge were there as well.

"Oh Shirley," Milly greeted, "do you have any idea of what's going on?" Shirley shook her head.

"All that I got was a text message from someone calling themselves' CED."

"CED, as in C-E-D?" asked Nina.

"Yeah."

"Well that's strange."

"Why is that Nina?" Nunnally asked, tilting her head so her ear was aimed toward the source of conversation.

"I didn't get a text message to come here, but I did receive an E-mail."

"Well then, who was it?" inquired an impatient Milly.

"It was sent by someone named-"

An explosion cut off Nina's sentence and caused the building to shake. The girls all cried out in shock. Shirley flattened herself against the wall, Nina ducked under the table, and Milly took hold of one of the chairs for support.

"Was that…a bomb?" Nunnally asked, hands covering her ears.

"We will all know in a minute," said Milly, helping Nina to her feet. There were already sounds of panic and shouting from the grounds and the hallways. "What a troubling day this is turning out to be. Alright, lets find out what happened and try to calm everyone-" The windows shattered and the sound of gunfire rang throughout the area and the girls dropped to the floor. Screams were now being heard and it was obvious that the entire school was in chaos now.

"What's going on?" Nina screamed, covering her head with her arms, "why are we getting shot at?"

"Forget that," Shirley yelled up from the floor, "we need to get out of here. Lelouch and Rivalz should be on their way back by now. If we hurry then we should be able to run into them."

"I like that plan," said Milly, gingerly standing and taking a cautious glimpse out of the broken windows. "My car is on the far side of the front parking lot, we can get there through the service tunnels."

"Alright then, lets get out of here!" Milly quickly nodded and went to Nunnally's side.

"Nunnally, are you okay?" It was obvious that she wasn't. Nunnally was visibly shaking, her hands firmly clasped over her heart.

"I-it…its so much like…like…" Nunnally stammered in a fast-paced and high pitched voice. Milly understood, she took both of Nunnally's fragile hands in hers.

"Don't worry, we will all make it," Milly soothed, "but listen. We can't take the chair with us, it will only slow us down. We will have to take turns carrying you. Is that okay with you?" Nunnally inclined her head once and held her arms out. Milly then leaned forward and took Nunnally in her arms as Nunnally locked her hands in a tight embrace around Milly's neck.

"Okay, lets get out of here."

**Airship en route to Pendragon from the Middle East**

Alexander Daemon finished changing and went back to the command bridge. He sat down in the command chair and pulled out a deck of cards, browsing through them at leisure. The card he gave Cornelia should do the trick, he had to admit she was an excellent fighter.

"Lord Daemon."

"What is it?" One of the officers came up to him and whispered something in his ear. This made Daemon blink twice. "Are you sure?"

"Affirmative Lord Daemon."

"I see, very well then; it looks like today will end on a…eighth note."


	4. Prison for One

**Ashford Academy**

Shirley led the others down the hallway to a service elevator. Milly was behind her carrying Nunnally and Nina rushed forward to open the elevator doors. Random bouts of gunfire and explosions continued to echo through the grounds.

"Okay, doors opened," reported Nina. They all went inside and Shirley inputted the access code for the service level. The elevator doors closed and they began to descend.

**Unknown Location, presumable underground**

Two of the Serpents dragged an unconscious figure down a long, damp, and dimly lit passageway. The figure was just then regaining consciousness and looked sideways at his captors. He could tell right away that he couldn't talk his way out of this. He just had to grin and bear it.

At the end of the hall was a metal door. They stopped in front of it. One of the Serpents keyed in his radio.

"Escort has arrived at vault door, requesting permission to open."

"Permission granted, door will be opened for ten seconds. You may proceed with your duties."

With a terrible scraping and screeching, the metal door lifted to reveal an open, circular, concrete room with a television screen on one of the walls. The Serpents rushed in, dragging the figure to the center of the room, forcibly dropped him, and then dashed back to the other side of the metal door. The door slid shut with a loud clang that reverberated around the room. The figure got gingerly to his feet. His long blond hair was smeared with grim, his clothes with dirt and a small amount of blood, and he was pretty sure that his face supported a black eye and some bruises.

"Well…nice to know you _were_ captured." The figure turned his attention toward the television screen. On screen was a figure dressed in white with an angular face, well kept blonde hair, and shocking blue eyes. If I was a girl I would most likely fall for him, the figure thought.

"Who are you?" the figure demanded, "and what am I doing here?" The man on screen chuckled to himself.

"Now, now, VV; you need to work on grasping the situation better." Uh-oh, he knows my name, that can't be good. "But considering the circumstances I suppose a little information can't hurt. My name is Alexander Daemon, and I am the current leader of the Universo Mundo Novo Exercitus, known as the UMNE for short."

"Are you the one responsible for the recent terrorist attacks?"

"Kind of."

"Why? What is it you want?"

"Actually, in regards to Britannia…nothing."

"What?"

"The Sons of the Serpent are not from…this world. Where they were from, Britannia never existed. Instead there was a country unlike any other before it, the United States of America. However, nothing is great forever. The nation began to fall behind in the realm of global progress. The Sons of the Serpent organized to try and change that. You mentioned terrorism; truth be told, that's exactly what the Serpents became. Thankfully for that world; specific groups of…marvel individuals intervened in their activities and eliminated their leaders. This is where I came in. I made a deal with them. If they could eliminate the Royal Britannian Family, then I would give them control of the full North American continent. Suffice to say they succeeded."

"But I'm still here," VV pointed out.

"That's because I know what kind of a freak you are…and of the Geass Order."

"What?"

"That's right, they have been eliminated. Not by the Serpents mind you, I had my own people take care of those meddlers." This can't be good at all, VV thought, panic beginning to set in. If this guy, Alexander Daemon, knew about Geass, then chances are he has a Geass or has an organization of people working with Geass. On screen, Alexander checked his watch. "Sorry to cut the meeting short, but we need to end things now."

"If you know about me, then you must surely know that I can't just die."

"I know, that is why you are here of all places VV." The moment Daemon said "VV," there was a sound that reminded VV of someone playing an eighth note on a piano.

"Where is here?" VV asked.

"You'll find out soon enough VV." Again, two notes in quick succession, an eighth note. "By the way, did you know that Lady Marianne was still alive?"

"What?"

"Don't worry, she's dead now. It turns out, VV," another eighth note, "that the late imperial consort received a unique Geass from CC." Another eighth note was played, this one of a higher pitch than the previous ones.

"Would you just stop that!" VV snapped.

"Why, its your note I'm playing?"

"That eighth note happens to be an E-sharp!"

"Whatever, by the way, how's the temperature in there?"

Pipes that hung from the ceiling then burst. Smoke and steam were expelled in various quantities. Cracks appeared in the cement covered ground. VV looked left and right, looking for a possible escape route even though it was clear that there was no chance of escape. Alexander Daemon gave a playful shrug on screen. "Never mind, I think I have a pretty good idea from here."

"Wha- whats going on?"

"This is SUSA VV, state of New Georgia as designated by the Sons of the Serpent Revolutionary Forces of the Supreme United States of America. Welcome to the world's one and only nuclear detainment facility."

"Nuclear what?" VV then felt pain on his hand. He looked at his palm to see, and feel, an oil-colored spot steadily growing larger and larger on his hand.

"It is my pleasure, as warden, to welcome you to cell 01 of the Savannah River Nuclear Prison. Enjoy your residency."

The television screen cracked under the heat and the picture of Alexander Daemon vanished, leaving only the sound of static-filled laughter and the screams of intense pain from VV.

Having the ability to live forever is truly the worst gift one could have.

**Ashford Academy**

Milly poked her head out of the door to the service shed, which was connected in turn to the service tunnels by a staircase.

"Its all clear, I can see my car from here." She held the door open so Nina and Shirley, now bearing Nunnally, could pass through.

"It's the white one near the parking lot entrance right?" asked Nina, rushing forward a little, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.

"Yes, it's that one." They all piled into the car with Nina and Nunnally in the back seats. Milly got the keys out of the glove compartment and placed them in the ignition.

"Hey! Over here!"

"They've seen us!" Shirley shouted, looking over her shoulder at the three men with green uniforms running through the parking lot.

"Hold on then," Milly announced, shifting the gears in reverse, pulling out of the reserved parking spot, and speeding off as the men behind them started firing at them. Bullets ricocheted off the pavement and dented the car. Nunnally cried out and Nina put her arms around her, forcing her down to the seat of the car. Shirley ducked down as well but Milly felt white hot pain crease her right shoulder. _Oh god! _she thought, _please get us out of this!_

**Elsewhere in the Settlement**

A young man in a trench coat looked through a pair of binoculars at Ashford Academy.

"Damn Occulta," he said to himself, "you have to be so ruthless." A few seconds later, he tossed the cheap binoculars aside and mounted his motorcycle. "Okay Alexander Daemon, you no longer stick to the shadows, so why the hell should I?" He kick started the cycle and sped off, the tails of his coat streaming behind him and his mind set on stopping the ultimate evil…

…one breath at a time.


	5. Ill Communication

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

"How is she?" Ohgi asked. The resistance group had spread out around the hideout. The only people left inside were Ohgi, Kallen, Lelouch, and the girl. The girl was now lying on a make-shift cot. The various straps and bonds were undone so that she would be free to move when she got up. Kallen checked the girl's pulse and felt her forehead.

"She seems alright, but after seeing her emerge like that, I-I just don't know anymore."

Lelouch looked on, still tied to a chair. He wasn't practically fond of terrorists, but the way they were behaving made them seem more like ordinary people he would see day by day. Of course they were ordinary people, what the heck was he thinking? Either way, that wasn't important now. He still had to convince them to let him go. He definitely wasn't going to blab to the police after seeing what the military was doing out of the public view. But how was he going to convince them to trust him? This is going to be rather tough, but he had to do something.

"What the-?" Ohgi suddenly blurted out, starring at a computer screen.

"What is it?" Kallen asked, "another Royal is killed?"

"No…it appears that the Sons of the Serpent attacked that school you were staying at."

Lelouch cried out as he lurched toward the computer, falling over again in the process, writhing like an eel.

"No! You're lying! The school couldn't have been attacked! You bastard! Nunnally isn't in danger! My sister is not in danger! Stop messing with my head you monster!"

Both Ohgi and Kallen stared at him. Ohgi was trying to figure out a way to clam him done but Kallen looked on with wide eyes. Lelouch had been perfectly fine before then, but at the mere thought of his sister being in danger he becomes…well…this.

**Settlement, Highway**

"Oh my God! Milly, you're bleeding!" In the car, Shirley and the others finally felt they could breathe easier. Milly smiled weakly when Shirley noticed the red stain on the shoulder of her uniform.

"I'm alright Shirley, it only grazed me."

In the back, Nina was holding Nunnally's hands in hers.

"Nina?"

"Yes Nunnally?"

"Do you think Lelouch is alright?"

"Yes Nunnally, your brother should be alright. He and Rivalz weren't in class when those guys attacked. By now they would've probably seen the news and know what happened."

"Um…Milly, could you…um…drive a little bit faster?"

"Why Shirley?"

"Because they're chasing us." Everyone turned around in their seats to see three cars and a van approaching from behind, all colored green with terrorists garbed in a similar fashion as those at the school.

"Oh no," was all that Milly could be able to say as Nina and Nunnally ducked down again.

Shirley jumped as her phone rang. It must be Lelouch! She attached the ear-piece and answered: "Lelu?"

"Sorry, but this unidentified number is obviously not Lelouch Lamperouge. Glad to see you all made it out." This made Shirley freeze, half out of embarrassment and half out of confusion.

"Um…who are you?"

"Not now, just drive the best you can and I'll try and keep those snakes off your backs. Lelouch and Rivalz are both safe." Then the call ended.

"Hold on, how are you going to keep them off our back?" Shirley asked the now non-existent caller.

There was a loud hiss, a bang, and the green van that was pursuing them flipped over. It seemed to hang the air momentarily before hitting the ground. Sparks flew as it screeched across the blacktop. Smoke ebbed out of it as the van came to a stop, obscuring the highway behind them in a white fog. Shirley could've sworn she overheard the people in the other cars saying: "How on earth did that happen?"

The radio in the car suddenly burst on with a torrent of static, scaring Milly so she jumped and give a rather unnatural hiccup.

"Shirley, did you just turn the radio on?"

"I didn't even touch it"

[Sabotage (Beastie Boys, Ill Communications album) - Play]

"Now what's going on?"

Behind them, the Serpents in one of the cars were having radio problems as well, but of a different sort.

"What the heck is this?" asked the one driving. The younger one in the back seat spoke up.

"Oh, I now this song. Sabotage by Beastie Boys."

"Beastie Boys in this hell-hole?"

[Sabotage - 0:15]

The reving sound of a powerful engine filled the air and out of the snow-colored smoke screen came a figure wearing a trench coat on a black motorcycle. He had fair hair and also a scarf around his neck despite the temperature. He maneuvered his cycle until he was right next to one of the terrorists' cars and slapped a piece of paper onto the side of the vehical.

"Hey!" the rear passenger of the car shouted, "just what do you think you're-" He never finished his sentence.

[Sabotage - 0:39]

There was an explosion and the car went on its side from the force of the blast, spinning like a top until it began to turn over and over. It went into the sidewall of the highway finally disintegrated in a fireball.

[Sabotage - 0:52]

A fork in the road caused the students and half of the remaining terrorists to be separated from the others. Two of the Serpents in the second car (not the driver), turned in their seats and began firing sub-machine guns at the stranger on the motorcycle. The stranger swerved and drew a pistol and fired.

[Sabotage - 1:04]

The stranger swerved to the opposite side of the road, looking ahead of the car and smirking as he stowed away his revolver. He swerved again as one of the Serpents threw a grenade, which detonated a few seconds later. The stranger looked at the separate highway, no higher than the one he was on now.

Great, he thought, it looks like I have to do _that_ after all. It's a good thing that these thugs aren't going to report anything.

"Hey Ayers," said the Serpent in the passenger seat, "I'm out, where'd you put the extra magizin-OH MOTHER DAMN!"

[Sabotage - 1:35]

The car without a live driver went over the abrupt gap in the road the stranger noticed earlier as the figure in question went flying up into the air, over the divide between the two highways, and onto-

[Sabotage - 1:38 - Pause]

-the trunk of Milly's car.

"Terrorist!" Nina screamed, grabbing a text book from under a chair and swinging it down. The stranger moved his hand out of the way and the book hit the car with a heavy thunk.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the stranger demanded, moving his other hand to avoid another swing of the book. "Honest to God, I'm on your side."

"Yeah right." She begins to repeatedly swing the book, alternating between trying to hit either his left or the right hand.

"I'm not-" thunk "-a terrorist!" thunk

"Then why-" thunk "-are you-" thunk "-after us?" thunk

"Because-" thunk "-I'm trying-" thunk "-to help!" thunk

"Sure-" thunk "-I-" thunk "-believe you." thwak!

"Ow! Stop it that hurts!"

"Sorry!" thawk!

"Ah! Can I talk to someone else?"

"Go away!" thwak!

"Ow! Damn it, I'm getting shot at too you know!"

Right on cue, one of the Serpents in the last car fired a series of shots which ricocheted off the road and the back of the car, puncturing the stranger's trench coat, breaking the rear-view mirror, putting two holes in the windshield (causing Shirley and Milly to cry out), and finally sending a bullet into Nina's right arm. She screamed and fell backwards onto the floor of the car.

"Nina!" Nunnally yelled, feeling Nina fall past her.

The stranger, being able to actually climb into the car, withdrew his revolver and fanned-out the remaining five rounds at the pursuers (fanning a revolver is when you have one finger on the trigger and you keep firing as you use your other hand to repeatedly knock down the cocking hammer).

[Sabotage - 1:38 - PLAY]

"Give me the wheel," said the young man, having Milly move to the back seat with Nunnally and Nina. The stranger sat down, actually took the time to put his seatbelt on, then shifted his attention toward the nearest highway exit. "Hold on!"

[Sabotage - 1:52]

Skid marks appeared on the pavement as the stranger steered the car into a power slide down the off-ramp and onto an empty construction site. The Serpents followed them down as the stranger maneuvered the car through a series of girders. There was a loud clang as the Serpent's car bumped into a cement mixer. The car shuddered as they ran over an open bag of concrete mix. Gunshots rang out and the stranger turned the car around a construction crane, avoiding the bullets that were aimed at them.

"That's it, no more wasting gas," the young man said with an air of annoyance, "everybody hold on!"

[Sabotage - 2:26]

"Wait a moment," Shirley interjected, "you are not seriously thinking of-"

The car shuddered again as they hit a ramp and drove into the second level of the incomplete structure. Of course, their pursuers followed up. Two or three ramps later, they turned onto a straight-away. The stranger floored the accelerator.

"Hold on!" Milly screamed, "if you don't slow down then we will all-" More gunshots echoed and bullets made splinters of wood fly. The stranger, to add to the confusion, took out a piece of chalk from the inside of his trench coat and drew a strange circle on the dashboard.

The circle glowed, the speedometer showed maximum speed, the terrorists behind them swerved and crashed through multiple layers of wood, pbc, and metal, and everyone in the car took a sharp intake of breath as they smashed through a plank of wood-

[Sabotage - 2:50]

-and into empty space.

It felt like the car seemed to be floating, until they landed on another highway a somehow stopped.

[Sabotage - END]

Everyone was breathing hard. Shirley lay back against her seat, looking up at the sky. Milly was holding Nunnally in the back. And Nina was still on the floor of the car, glasses askew and pressing a hand against her injured arm. The young man took the keys out of the ignition an turned round to look at them. The all looked at each other, then started laughing, even Nina. It wasn't laughter to go with humor, it was a more serious laughter that one might get after doing something daring with a high risk of getting hurt.

The laughter soon died down and the stranger restarted the car.

"Well, now that's over. I think it is about time to find someplace safe."

"Hold on," said Milly from the back seat, helping Nina into a laying down position and wrapping the top layer of her uniform around Nina's injury, "before you take us anywhere, tell us who you are." The young man put the car into drive and resumed driving.

"My name is Cysgod Eadrom-Dorcha, I'm here because I decided to help."

"Cysgod…Eadrom…Dorcha-oh!" Shirley then realized something, "You were the one who told us to meet in the Student Council room." Cysgod laughed.

"My initials, I won't be using that alias anytime soon."

"Where are we going?" asked Nunnally, sitting with a seatbelt on and her arms around her knees.

"To the Shinjuku Ghetto, your brother is waiting there for you."

* * *

**Hi there! Sorry if this chapter took longer than normal, I got a lot of stuff going on in my life right now. I'll do my best to keep up with any possible demand, but I'm making no promises.**

**Please leave Reviews where you see fit and I might actually place your ideas into practice.**

**Signed, Ezekiel Zeta Stigma**


	6. Green Witch and Hidden Demon

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

Tamaki and Nagata came in from their patrol.

"Inoue, Yoshida, and everyone else has reported in. Nothing to be concerned over," said Nagata, sitting down on top of some crates. Tamaki laid down on a stretch of bare concrete before noticing something.

"Hey, Ohgi, why the hell isn't the Britannian tied up?" Lelouch was sitting against a wall, head buried in his arms on top of his knees.

"Settle down Tamaki," said Kallen, still looking over on the green-haired girl. "The Serpents attacked the school we were both staying at. As of now he has no where to go."

"You're kidding, the Serpents _are_ here?"

"Question though?" interrupted Nagata, raising a hand, "If they have enough fire power to attack a Britannian school, then how come they haven't attacked Clovis?"

"Saving the best for last?" suggested Kallen with a shrug.

"It isn't that," Ohgi spoke, shaking his head, "Clovis maybe next in line to the thrown now, but he isn't that good of a leader. Some of the insiders from the JLF even went as far as to label him as: not smart but not dumb." Almost immediately after that, Kallen raised a hand to her lips and shushed them.

"Quiet…she's waking up."

The girl with green hair moaned and opened her eyes, almost golden in color. Kallen leaned over and gently touched her arm.

"Hey," she almost whispered, "how are you feeling?" The girl cast her gaze around the room then back to Kallen.

"Where…where am I?" the girl asked.

"You're in a warehouse in the Shinjuku Ghetto. How are you feeling?"

"Umm…alright…I think…" the girl looked at the palm of her hand for a moment before gasping and looking left and right. "The military! Are they…are they close? Are they after me?" Kallen reached out and gently grasped her shoulder.

"Relax, everything is alright. The military is preoccupied with other matters. What is your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's CC," the girl said simply.

"CC?" Nagata wondered out loud, "that's a strange name. Only your initials?" The girl, CC, nodded in response and then turned her attention toward Lelouch.

"Is he alright?"

"What, you mean Lelouch?" asked Kallen, slightly taken aback. "Yeah…well…I think so. Why do you ask?"

A loud and random series of beeps and tones was being emitted from the computer that Ohgi was sitting in front of. Ohgi stared at the screen for several seconds before taking the mouse and clicking on something.

"….BLEEP-Hello? Testing one, two, three; Gemini's twins and Eden's tree."

"What the hell?" Tamaki voiced out what almost everyone was thinking.

"Umm…hello?" Ohgi hesitantly replied.

"Ah, it works, what a relief! Do you happen to be Ohgi Kaname" asked the voice on the computer.

"Yes…and…do I know you?"

"Now you do," the one on the other end responded in a sing-song voice. "How did the mission go?"

"What mission?"

"You know, the one you just partook in hoping to steal a canister of poison gas and instead swiping a container for a girl with green hair and a stoic personality."

"What! How do you know about that?"

"Later, I promise, later. Lets see, oh yeah, how about the Britannian student?"

"Oh, you know about him too?" Ohgi glanced at Lelouch, wondering just how bad things could get. "He's clamed down now. I don't really blame him after what's happened."

"Is he within hearing distance?"

"Yeah."

"Good," the tone of the voice on the other end suddenly went up a few notches. "Hey Lelouch, you still got your head on?"

"What do you want?" asked a gloomy Lelouch from his spot on the ground.

"Lelouch! Is that you?" Nunnally's voice suddenly rang through the room. Lelouch jumped to his feet and ran to the computer, almost shoving Ohgi out of the way.

"Nunnally? Nunnally? Thank God! Are you okay? What happened?"

"Oh brother, I'm so glad you're alright! Milly, Shirley, and Nina got out too!"

"Oh Nunnally," said Lelouch, tears of relief starting to seep from his eyes, "I'm so glad to hear it."

"Umm…I'd hate to interrupt," said the original voice, "but the trial run for this method of communication is about to expire. We're on our way to the Shinjuku Ghetto. Miss Ashford has a clipped shoulder and Nina has a bullet wound in the right arm. And I hate break the news, but the Sons of the Serpent are only the beginning."

"Alright," replied Lelouch, wiping the tears from his eyes and gaining a feeling confidence that he never felt before, "I'll meet you when you get here. Do you need directions?"

"No, I already have the coordinates locked on. ETA minimum of ten minutes, Cysgod Eadrom-Dorcha signing off."

**Air over the Pacific**

"Fuher Daemon."

Alexander rotated his seat on the bridge to face the leader of the Jahrtausend Division.

"Yes, what is it?"

"All targets have been eliminated, with one, if not two, problems."

"Which problem?"

"Euphemia liBritannia was already in transit to Area 11 before we got to her."

"I see, don't worry too much about it though. She's only one little princess after all."

"But what about Clovis? He's the last of the Royal bloodline who has enough prestige to lay claim to the throne. He might be an idiot, but he could still-"

"He's not the last."

"Pardon?"

"There are three I excluded from the target list. Clovis, who you already know of, young prodigy Lelouch vi Britannia, and his crippled sister Nunnally vi Britannia."

"By why exclude them if any one of them could pose a threat to Operation: Hellfire?"

"Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?" asked Daemon in a tone that projected annoyance.

"Yes, the X Division just reported an unknown presence in the Middle East where you dealt with Cornelia." This made Alexander blink a couple of times, his interest had piqued.

"Is it Powers?"

"Yes Daemon. Contrary to initial reports, it appears he has a fully operational smuggling network from the Middle East to Europe and even Northern Britannia. He has just salvaged whatever he could from the site of that battle."

"It's of no real consequence. Just as long as the Youngfaced-Godfather does not interfere with us directly, we need not worry." The uniformed devil then bowed deeply and began to leave.

"Very well, even though I don't understand your reasoning. Hail the Millennium."

"Hail the Millennium," Daemon agreed, "and hail the Universal Utopia."


	7. Tears in the Chaos

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

Cysgod Eadrom-Dorcha drove the car up to a warehouse. He turned off the ignition and placed the keys inside of his coat.

"Okay, ride's over people." Cysgod undid his seat belt and jumped out of the car. Shirley opened the passenger door and walked around to the other side to get Nunnally. Milly helped a bandaged Nina out of the car, being careful not to rush. Cysgod in the mean time stood in front of a large warehouse door.

"Hello!" He called out. "Kon'nichiwa! I know you all can hear me!"

Seconds later, as though in reply, there was a scraping sound and the door creaked as it was pushed open by a man carrying a rifle slung over his shoulder and a red headband around his head.

"You're the one who contacted us?"

"Yes," Cysgod responded with a bow. The man nodded a few times and gestured at the car.

"Is it going to be okay if we just leave that in the open?"

"I'm pretty sure no one is going to notice. Is everyone else here?"

"Yes, but only after you're searched." This made Nina shiver next to Milly and Cysgod gave an irritated sigh.

"Very well, but the only person you need to search is me." Cysgod held his arms out, his trench coat lifting a little more above the ground. The man looked over the girls briefly before nodding and proceeded to pat down Cysgod, removing a revolver, a dagger, a golden pocket watch with about ten different dials, and a bundled notebook.

"Okay then," the man said, "you can all come in, we'll hide the car later." Cysgod inclined his head a second time and followed him inside. Shirley came in after them, carrying Nunnaly on her back. And last to enter was Milly herding a frightened Nina.

The inside was dimly lit with concrete floors and an untold number of boxes. Apart from the Ashford Students and Cysgod, there were three gaurds in the immediate room. A door then opened and another Japanese person started walking out and was shoved aside as Lelouch ran out.

"Nunnally!" He ran towards them and locked Nunnally and Shirley in a tight embrace.

"Lelouch!" Nunnally wrapped an arm around her brothers neck while still holding onto Shirley. "I was so frightened. It was just like-like-" She faltered as Lelouch held her head close to his.

"Its alright Nunnally, everything is going to be alright."

Shirley listened to them both as Lelouch continued his embrace. She could barley even begin to imagine what Lelouch went through to end up in a terrorist hideaway and then discover that Ashford Academy was under attack. Something gently dropped onto Shirley at the base of her neck. Was that a tear?

It was, and that was probably the first time Shirley ever saw Lelouch cry.

**Middle East, Facinus controlled town twenty-one miles from the Persian Gulf **[Back in Black (ACDC - Back in Black album) - PLAY (for added effect, PLAY up to 0:06 before actually reading on)]

A small convoy raced into the town from the open dessert. Five jeeps and four trucks, all bearing the crest of the Powers' Facinus.

[Back in Black - 0:27]

Some of the guys in the convoy whooped and cheered as their respected vehicles hit a jump on the sand and landed. They all stopped by a large complex known by the locals as the Arakiss Club, but known officially as the Arakiss Renegade Social Expenditure. In the lead jeep, a figure started to regain consciousness.

"Okay, we all know the drill. Get the merchandise in either Manufacturing or the Mercantile." The figure, laying down in the back of the jeep heard the voice and was puzzled. Who the heck is this guy? she thought to herself, her mouth gagged and her hands bound by zip ties. He couldn't be much older than fifteen, judging by his voice.

"But boss," another voice interjected, "what about those two power plants we picked up? One of them looks completely trashed and the other looks like it's barely operational!" Wait a moment, that kid was the "boss?"

"People will still buy the crap if it looks good!" the kid answered back. "Put them both in Manufacturing. And get that woman into an infirmary, I don't want to lose a product to lack of health."

"Yes Boss Powers," two voices answered at once.

The back of the jeep was lowered and two men came in and picked her up from the forearms. They pulled her from the vehicle and began dragging her through the sand. She then noticed something wrong. The right half of her field of vision was dark. Was her right eye swollen?

[Back in Black - FADE OUT and STOP any point]

They came to a door, and they passed through it. She was now being dragged down a hallway with a tiled floor. There was a pain in her side and at her right shoulder. She also couldn't feel anything below her left knee.

"How much do you think we'll get for this one?" one of the men asked.

"If we get that bullet out of her side, teach her to use a cane, and if her left eye is unaffected, then she would be worth…500,000,000 in any currency." The first guy whistled.

"Sweet, easy money this time round. Hold on, what if she's blind in both eyes?"

"Then we would catch 350,000,000 in value. Unless the Sons of the Serpents buy her. They would only give us several thousand."

"You think! No doubt if they do buy her then they would rape her, beat her, torture her for no reason, and then execute her in public."

"Yeah, I actually feel sorry for her. Who is left of the Royal Britannian Family?"

"Just that one idiot in Japan."

"Wow, that's just terrible." Terrible doesn't even begin to cover it, Cornelia thought, her head hanging and tears silently crawling down her face. Oh Euphemia, she thought, I have failed you.

**Tokyo Settlement, Settlement Airport - 45 minutes later**

Clovis and his security detail stood in one of the service corridors under the main level of the airport. He was pacing back and forth, constantly checking his watch and looking from one end of the corridor to the other. The doors at one end opened and a young lady with pink hair and a dress fit for royalty. She entered and briskly walked a few paces before suddenly breaking into a run and throwing her arms around Clovis, who returned the embrace with his own."Clovis…" she said weakly, tears pouring down her face and soaking the front of Clovis' tunic. Clovis stroked her head as she continued to cry.

"I know," he said softly, shaking a little though he was really good at hiding it, "we are all that's left Euphie."

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

Everyone was still and silent. On one side of the room sat the men from the resistance group. On the other side were the others. Milly sat against the wall, rubbing a bandage covering her right shoulder. Shirley helped Kallen with Nina's injury, of which they could only bandage and then place in a sling because Nina didn't trust Elevens enough for them to remove the bullet. The resistance woman, Inoue, watched over CC even though it was evident that the girl was extremely healthy and needed no further medical care. And in a corner, Lelouch sat with Nunnally snuggled deeper into his embrace, clinging to his shirt and pressing her face against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Pacing in-between the two sides was Cysgod Eadrom-Dorcha, his items returned and stowed away in his trench coat. He strode back and forth about fifty times before stopping in the middle of fifty-one and announcing: "There is nothing wrong here." He looked at the two groups and then decided _now_ was a good time to let loose from steam. "Come on people! All of you are on the same side now so-"

"What makes you think we're on the same side?" Tamaki shouted in response. "I don't know what planet you're from Britannian trash; but here, the Japanese are nothing like these interlopers!"

"You think everything stays the same with the extermination of the Britannian Royals? You guys (pointing to the resistance members) have been hunted from the get-go. And you people (gesturing to the others), with the exception for CC, are now all numero-uno on the Serpent's hit list. Britannia is gone, all of it except for Area 11. Yes, it's Japan and should belong to the Japanese, but how long have the Colonists been here?"

"Too long," answered Kallen, making Nina gasp and shrink back against Shirley.

"Debatably correct," Cysgod admitted with a shrug, "but for the sake of the present, both Britannians and Japanese need to face this threat together."

"And you think we will just take your word for it because you're a Britannian?" a man with purple hair and a pair of spectacles inquired in an accusative tone.

"No Yoshitaka, I know you're going to take my word for it because I'm NOT Britannian."

This made the resistance members suddenly stir with a sort of unease that the students felt but didn't understand right away.

"How do you know Minami's name?" demanded the woman next to CC.

"You're not Britannian, then why are you defending them?" Tamaki accused.

"Now everybody hold on a second!" Ohgi was standing now, arms out as though he were preventing two walls from slamming together. He lowered his arms and looked at Cysgod. "You seem to know a lot, how about you tell us why you are here before anything else?" Cysgod nodded a couple of times before replying.

"Very well, how about I tell you as I remove the bullet from Miss Einstien's arm?"

"Fine by me," Ohgi acceded while Nina gave off a high-pitched yelp.

"No!" Nina almost screamed, "I'm fine! I'll just keep the bullet in my arm and I'll-I-I'll work around it!" This made Cysgod laugh.

"I got two things two say. One: that accent of yours makes it clear that you were not born to be a yeller. And two: are you aware that one of the bodies' major arteries happens to be in the arm?"

Nina's face turned a very pale shade of pink and she nodded her head in defeat. She scooted forward an inch or so and gingerly held her arm and sling out.

"Do it quickly…please…"

"Alright then," said Cysgod, kneeling next to Nina and taking off his trench coat. "Now…

…how should I begin?"

**SUSA-NCV (Supreme United States of America - Naval Command Vessel) Midway**

**3 miles off the East Coast of Japan**

The Sons of the Serpent on the bridge of the submersible battleship were all a chatter with the latest activity. And all according to duty. Duty is, as duty calls.

"Taskforce has just returned to the Midway. Objectives complete, and only 15 casualties reported."

"Intelligence confirms that Princess Euphemia li Britannia has just arrived and is with Prince Clovis la Britannia at the Settlement Capital."

"There still hasn't been an order concerning the two remaining Royals. Any possible action currently under stand-by status."

"Prisoner has been brought to the brig, status: lightly detained."

"Joint-order issued by UMNE leader, Alexander Daemon. Prisoner to be transferred to a west-bound aircraft to the Middle East. Prisoner to be used as a bargaining chip for appeasement of the Powers' Facinus."

**UMNE Airship**

**Forty-eight miles from Pendragon**

Alexander Daemon settled back down in his command chair, having just ordered the delivery of a Britannian student to Alex Powers, the "Chief Executive Officer" of the Powers' Facinus. The two leaders could never see eye-to-eye, but they both knew better than to interfere with their separate ventures. Powers, being the greedy monster that he is, only cares for money and profit. Strangely however, he also enjoyed competition. Why? Because Alex Powers becomes bored easily.

"You were always overdue for a present from me Alex," Daemon spoke quietly to himself, "I'd say you need just a tiny reminder that you can't just go wherever your thirst for contest takes you."


	8. Converging Paths

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

"I originally came here to look for an evil," Cysgod spoke in a simple tone as he gently handled Nina's injured arm. "This is evil is a person who's name is Occulta."

"Occulta, is that Latin?" Milly inquired cautiously. Cysgod chuckled as he lightly traced the bullet wound.

"No, that's his name, plain and simply. He never uses it but it's his real name."

"What kind of evil is he?" asked one of the resistance members.

"He's what you would probably call a radical utopian. He believes that once everybody is on equal footing, then the leaders by natural right can step up and point society in the correct direction. The first step in all of his agendas is unification by any means necessary."

"So this Occulta wants to just take over the world?" asked Lelouch, still holding Nunnally in a comforting embrace.

"Not _the world_. He wants _the worlds_."

"Hold on, what are you saying? Are you suggesting that he wants power over Heaven and Hell? Or are you telling us that this Occulta wants authority over the universe?"

"The universe is much bigger than what you see." Cysgod then paused for a moment, one of his hands holding Nina's arm steady. "Which of you saw that broadcast?"

"I saw it the moment it began," Ohgi said, raising a hand.

"What did mister Diamondback say again?"

"He said: in accordance to military Operation: Adam's Heel…we will eliminate Sin from Eden…oh, he said something about a Supreme United States of America."

"Correct," said Cysgod as he clapped his hands and began rubbing the palms together. "The Sons of the Serpents originally came from an alternate universe in which the Holy Britannian Empire doesn't exist. Instead, there was a super power that was called: the United States of America. Unfortunately, for you more than that other world, they were terrorists back there too."

"Let me get this straight," CC spoke up, surprising most of the people there. CC's voice had a quality of what could be best described as stoic inner strength. "Occulta came from his world, recruited the Sons of the Serpent from another world, and then decided to attack us on our world. Is that basically correct?"

"For the most part," Cysgod responded, placing his hands on and around Nina's bullet wound. "Hold on a second." His grip visibly tightened and Nina cried out, gripping the skirt of her uniform with her fist, eyes shut tight and face contorted in pain. But almost as quickly as he took hold, Cysgod let go and withdrew his hands. "I hate to say this, but you are such paranoid crybaby."

"It wasn't my fault that I got shot you know!" Nina retorted.

"Yeah, shot with something you could compare to a bee sting as far as guns are concerned." He opened his right hand to show a relatively small-sized bullet in his palm, stained with blood and somewhat warped in appearance.

"That was fast," observed a surprised resistance member with long black hair and gray eyes. Cysgod tossed the now harmless bullet aside then resumed to redo the bandages on Nina's arm.

"The Sons of the Serpents are now an active faction within the UMNE. The UMNE, or Universo Mundo Novo Exercitus, is a massive private army under the control of Alexander Daemon."

"So Alexander Daemon is the leader we need to worry about."

"If you want to see it that way."

"Hold on," Lelouch interrupted, "you said the Sons of the Serpents were terrorists in this other world as well. What kind of terrorists were they? Resistance? Separatist? Ex-military? Pro-military?"

"Hmm…they would actually be more along the lines of…lets say: hyper-nationalists crossed with racial socialists."

"Meaning?"

"Their patriotism is so extreme that it isn't patriotism any more, and their tolerance policies are strictly limited to those that are White, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant."

"So they're all a bunch of racist mad men?" asked the resistance member with dark brown hair.

"Exactly," said Cysgod, tightening Nina's bandages with one last tug that caused her to wince.

"Do you know what they're planning?" Kallen questioned with a raised hand.

"I can only guess. Either the Serpents are acting as the vanguard for the main invasion force, or a taskforce given the duty of drawing the public eye from the actual objective. Now," he stood up, putting his trench coat back on. "I'm going to get some fresh air. If you people haven't decided to work together by the time I come back in, then you're all on your own. And believe me when I say this," he strode to the door to the outside and paused. "…by yourself…Occulta is an invincible demon." He then opened the door, adjusted his scarf, and walked out, door shutting behind him.

**Middle East, Arakiss Renegade Social Expenditure**

Alex Powers looked over the message he got from the communication room just a few minutes ago. He frowned as he got to the end of the page. He figured Daemon would try to initiate in some sort of deal with him eventually, but honestly? He's sending over a Britannian schoolboy for freakin appeasement? What kind of Godfather does Daemon think he is? Of course he knew the answer to that.

Daemon was always someone Alex didn't like. At first Alex could've sworn that they shared a lot of similarities. Eventually he found that, unfortunately, they did. The only real difference between them was their ideals. That, along with Daemon's personality, led Alex to actually keep the interaction between the two to an absolute minimum. And now Daemon wants to make sure Alex keeps out of his business.

"Idiot," he said to himself. He stood and stretched, tossing the message into the garbage. He then left his office and went down to the holding area.

* * *

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Cornelia awoke, her vision blurred and dark even though the room was obviously lit. There was a beep followed by a brief rustle of static.

"Enjoying the stay your ex-highness?" a cocky voice came in over what sounded like an intercom. The voice sounded familiar, she just couldn't place it.

"What do you want?" she demanded. "The entire Britannian military will come looking for me."

"Yes, yes, under normal circumstances they no doubt would. But I think you have either forgotten, or you were never informed." There was a momentary pause before the voice dropped the bombshell. "Britannia is finished."

"What?"

"You are all but remains of the Imperial bloodline, your relatives and the all mighty and powerful Emperor Charles Britannia have been eliminated. All Areas, with the unusual exception of Area 11, are in the process of being occupied. Martial law has been put into effect throughout the western hemisphere. And to top it all off, two forces are going to carve up what remains among themselves."

"No," Cornelia breathed, remembering what she heard the two guards talking about.

"And you…" The voice then broke out into a fit of comic hysteria. "You're just lucky to be alive. Lets see: your right eye is permanently blind, your right leg is practically broken, left side of the torso recovering from a sword wound, left arm recovering from a bullet wound, and to as if that isn't enough, you are now one of the most valuable pieces of human merchandise on the market. Imagine: 1,000,000,000 in any currency just to have the last bit of the once great royal family?"

"Sh-shut up!"

"Hey, don't blame me. I got to make a living somehow. Speaking of which, you're going to have a visitor in about a day or so."

"You monster! If Britannia no longer exists then let me go and no harm done!"

"Yeah, that would just be bad business ethic. I'm going to leave you to your solace now; got a business to run, places to go, stuff to steal, revenues to extort, blah-bla-blah-bla-blah…and welcome to the realm of the Facinus."

**Area 11, Shinjuku Ghetto**

The students and the resistance members continued to simply sit and stare at each other. They knew what Cysgod meant perfectly, but could they trust each other?

Luckily, it wasn't long until Lelouch had enough. He stood up, back straight, head high, and a brightness in his eyes that probably wasn't there in a long time.

"Well we can't just sit here and stare at each other."

"That I agree on," said Ohgi, standing as well. In a move that actually surprised two or three of his comrades, he took a few steps forward and bowed. "I am Kaname Ohgi, and I'm the current leader of this resistance cell." Lelouch then stepped forward in equal jest so that he and Ohgi were practically face to face. He inclined his head in response.

"I am Lelouch Lamperouge, former vice president of the Ashford Academy student council, and my sister is Nunnally Lamperouge." They shook each other's hands.

"The other members of the resistance group," Ohgi said, gesturing to everyone who wore a red headband. "You already know Kallen; the others are Kento Sugiyama," the young man with blue hair nodded, "Shinichiro Tamaki," the one with short brown hair grunted, "Yoshitaka Minami," the one with purple hair and glasses gave a momentary bow, "Naomi Inoue," the woman with long indigo hair stood and bowed, "Toru Yoshida," the well-built guy with dark brown hair raised a hand in acknowledgement, "and Takeshi Nagata," the young man with long black hair and gray eyes also stood and bowed.

"And these are my friends," said Lelouch, gesturing to each one of them in turn, "former president of the Ashford Student Council, Milly Ashford, Shirley Fenette, and Nina Einstien." Ohgi and a few of the other resistance people bowed toward them. This made Nina more nervous, but it seemed to ease any possible tension with the rest of the students.

"Hold on," Shirley interjected, raising a hand, "what about that girl over there?" She pointed to CC, who merely tilted her head and looked back at Shirley with a bland expression on her face.

"I am nether Japanese or Britannian. I simply exist, and whatever happens around me has no relevance."

**UMNE Airship**

**21 miles from Pendragon**

"Are you sure that was wise to send that hostage to the Facinus?" Daemon turned to look at the head of Arcane Division.

"Wisdom is irrelevant," he responded in an irritable fashion. "What I did was only logical, that is all."

"To what logic?"

"Alex Powers is the kind of person that needs a reminder of who's in charge every once-in-a-while. That is all I did." He then turned his eyes back to computer screen, frowning slightly at the random bits and pieces of scientific data. "All the primary objectives of the Serpents have been completed. Pity though, that girl was able to get away."

"Who? Euphemia?"

"No, not her."

"Cornelia then? I thought you killed her?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant, never mind."

"Well…if its bothering you, then shouldn't we-"

"It's of no consequence," Daemon surmised as he wiped the screen clean of the data and held up a data chip the size of his thumb. He leaned back in his chair, admiring what he was holding. "A different snake once said that _Science requires sacrifice_. Who would've thought that he was only slightly incorrect. What he should've said was…

…Science requires sacrifice _and_ the elimination of shepherds."

**Area 11, Shinjuku Ghetto**

Cysgod came back in, checking his multi-dialed watch. He put it away and looked up at the two groups. He actually had to blink a couple of times. They were actually either standing or sitting closer together than before, even though it obvious that they still had a clear divide between them.

"So, I take it you've made a decision?"

"We have," answered Lelouch. Cysgod chuckled.

"Well that was better than I expected. Alright then, how about a history lesson?"

"Before that," said Milly, standing with her arms crossed, "I need to ask a question."

"Okay."

"Earlier you said that both Lelouch and Rivalz were safe."

"Yes."

"Then where is Rivalz?"

Cysgod gulped. Everyone staring at him and the only thought that actually occurred in the room was: oh crud.


	9. The Serpent's Head

**UMNE stealth-SCRAMJET Aircraft en route to X Division Mobile HQ (Hindu Kush mountains)**

Rivalz Cardemonde was so sore that he wasn't scared anymore. He had cuff-links around his wrists and ankles, and couldn't move much on his seat. Across from him sat two Serpents, one didn't do much except breathe and the other was playing with a multi-colored cube of some sort.

"Where are you taking me?" Rivalz asked, unsure whether or not it was even safe to ask questions.

"To the Facinus," answered the Serpent with the cube, rotating one of the sides so that it was all one color. "Believe me interloper, you're lucky that Alexander Daemon decided to use you as a bargaining chip. Just hope Alex Powers doesn't sell you back."

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

Milly slammed Cysgod against the wall, hands gripping the neck of his shirt and part of his scarf.

"You told us that both Lelouch and Rivalz were safe, how could you lie to us?" Milly shouted while ignoring the pain from her bandaged shoulder.

"Let-go-of-the-scarf! Let-go-of-the-scarf!" Cysgod rambled quickly, his voice almost raising an octave.

"Where is he then?"

"Let-go! Let-go! Let-go!"

"Tell us where Rivalz is and I'll let you go." This made Cysgod give off an irritated sigh.

"I don't care about me, I said: HANDS OFF THE SCARF!" When he shouted, his voice actually became so high-pitched that it was more like the shrill of an ear-splitting siren. Almost everyone in the room grabbed their ears and shrunk away from Cysgod, who simply coughed, gave his head a quick shake, and adjusted his scarf.

"For crying out loud, what was that?" Kallen asked, hands over her ears.

"Oh my God, you sound like a girl!" Tamaki stated.

"Please do us all a favor and don't do that again," said Lelouch, messaging his ears as CC looked on with wide eyes.

"Look," said Cysgod, hands raised in a defensive gesture, "I though Rivalz was going to be just fine. I didn't know that he was going to be kidnapped by one of the Divisions, alright."

"Division? Are you talking about the UMNE?" asked Lelouch.

"Yes, the UMNE is separated into Divisions. Each Division is made up of a single entity and is responsible for only a limited number of duties. I don't know all of them. Arcane Division handles security and counter-espionage. Division X happens to be Daemon's pride and joy, his personal invasion force, his shock troops. I suppose if you press me hard enough then it would probably be safe to assume that the Sons of the Serpents are the Secret Division. Rivalz happened to be seized by members of the Jahrtausend Division."

"Jahrtausend Division?"

"Yeah, its German, it means Millennium. And no, I am not going to tell you who they are because then you would just think I'm crazy."

"Why, what do they do?" Ohgi asked.

"Believe me…you don't want to know."

**Governor's Palace, Britannia Settlement**

Clovis and Euphemia sat in the main office. The curtains were drawn across the windows and the entrance was guarded both inside and outside. Clovis was behind the desk, twiddling his thumbs and looking at a bunch of folders, all unopened. Euphemia sat in a chair next to the desk, continuously twisting her hands in her lap, head down and obvious fear in her eyes. The door opened and General Bartley entered, a grim expression on his face.

"So is..?" Clovis began to ask, but Bartley shook his head.

"I'm sorry your highness, but…we've lost contact with her since this morning."

"Thank you, that's all General." General Bartley then bowed and left.

Euphemia began to whimper, leaning forward in her chair, tears beginning to pour down her face and onto the floor. Clovis stood and came around the desk, draping a protective arm over his half-sister.

"Oh Clovis…" Euphemia wept, "why is this happening? Why are these people after us? What did we do to them?"

"I don't know Euphie, but at least we still appear to have a chance." There was a hurried knock on the door and one of the Pure-Bloods came in.

"My lord, there's a new development."

**Arakiss Renegade Social Expenditure**

"Boss Powers," announced a messenger boy, "the Sons of the Serpent are about to make an announcement."

Alex Powers looked up from a book entitled: The Bluford Series, and sighed.

"Okay, let me just get a pick-me-up." He stood and placed the book down on his desk before crossing over to his personal refrigerator and pulling out a can of Coca-Cola.

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

"Guys, you should come and see this." Everyone dropped what they were doing and came over to where Sugiyama was looking at the computer.

**Pendragon, as viewed on all Britannian media channels**

A makeshift podium was set up in the throne room of the Pendragon Royal Palace. Behind the podium were two chairs, occupied by Commander Diamondback and another individual with blonde hair that was combed back and piercing blue eyes, accompanied by four bodyguards in green uniforms. Diamondback stood and took position behind the podium before speaking.

"Attention to all citizens and non-citizens of the Holy Britannian Empire and of Areas 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. From this moment on…Britannia no longer exists. All the lands and territory previously under the control of Britannian is under the intermediate authority of the Supreme United States of America. Also, Pendragon shall hereby be known as D.E., the District of Eden. For a preset duration, martial law shall be imposed on all territories. The full cooperation of military and law enforcement within the territories of the Supreme United States of America is to be expected. Any and all forms of non-cooperation will not be tolerated. That would only lead to chaos, and believe me when I say: you don't want that. To assist the Revolutionary Sons of the Serpent, I have with me the leader of our allies. Let me now introduce the leader of the UMNE." Diamondback sits back down as the younger and more visibly charismatic man stood and took Diamondback's place at the podium.

"My name is Alexander Daemon, leader of the Universo Mundo Novo Exercitus. As part of the agreement we partook in with the Revolutionary Sons of the Serpent, the Divisions of the UMNE will assist in the transition of authority to SUSA. As part of our role, I hereby declare this a warning to all other nations.

The territories of the now non-existent Britannian Empire are now under OUR control. If you move in to seize any land from us, then we will retaliate without mercy or conscience. And for anyone who thinks we won't be a problem to them, listen to my words. We have nuclear capabilities."

**Area 11, Governor's Palace**

"They have what?" Clovis asked aloud.

**Arakiss Renegade Social Expenditure**

"Wow, good thing we don't business relationship with them." Alex remained silent as the other members of the Facinus continued to talk.

"Yeah, they would've gotten something worse than nukes."

"But their Alpha Division already has-"

"We weren't talking about _those_ idiot! Have you forgotten about MARS?"

"Oh yeah…"

**D.E. (District of Eden), SUSA**

Alexander Daemon continued talking. "Sukuradite power has become a thing of the past, a relic of recent history. The Supreme United States of America will not fall behind in the realm of global progress. A new era is on the horizon and we will be the bringers of light in this new age."

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

Cysgod reached forward and pressed the power button on the computer.

"There, now you've met Daemon, now let's get out of this warehouse."

**Arakiss Renegade Social Expenditure**

Alex Powers turned the television off.

"So…it has begun. Oh well, we will just have to make due with what we have, won't we." He threw away his can of Coke and walked out of the room saying: "Anyone know where I can get some Sprite in this place?"


	10. Enter Alex Powers

**Middle East, somewhere**

Rivalz was still in the custody of the two "soldiers" who were with him on that strange air transport. What did they call it again? Scram-jess? Or something like that. It didn't matter now. Right now he was hand-cuffed in the back of an open-air vehicle with the two cronies sitting up front, one of them still tinkering around with that multi-colored cube.

"When will we get there?" Rivalz almost yelled over the noise of the engine.

"When? Oh, I don't know, when you shut up!"

**Shinjuku Ghetto**

The car that Cysgod and the student council had arrived in was now hidden in the warehouse. The warehouse in question in the rear view mirror of a truck with a canopy over the trailer. Cysgod sat in the passenger seat with Ohgi. Everyone else was in the back, almost. Considering that it was going to be crowded enough with the student council, five of the resistance group, two complete and total stranger to both groups, and what little supplies they could bring along; two of the resistance group decided to take the original truck (the one carrying Kallen's Knightmare and CC's capsule) and meet up with the rest later. Kallen decided to go with them because her Knightmare was in there and CC also went with them because, despite the fact that she was held in a strange container against her will, it was still comfortable and cozy.

Talk about weird.

"So Cysgod," Ohgi asked as he turned the truck onto a sorry excuse for street, "why are you after this Occulta guy, apart from preventing him from conquering the world?"

"To make him pay."

"What?" That answer actually shocked him. Ohgi suspected there must have been a different motive, but he never expected this guy to just tell him like that. Cysgod adjusted his scarf before continuing on.

"A few years ago, I was part of a clan of…well…scientists. The Eadrom-Dorcha Clan. Our name reflects our clan's belief that there is at least some good in everything. There is obviously bad and evil in the universe, but there is also good. A wiseman just needs to be able to tell the difference between the two. And as such, the clan's actions are almost always transcending 'Eadrom' and 'Dorcha."

"Light and Dark?"

"Exactly. Now, when I was 16, I started working on a private project of mine. Well, not exactly private, I mentioned it over fire-side suppers just as others in the clan did the same. But that's beside the point. You see, a year later I received a visit from a businessman of sorts. He wanted to buy my research for personal and beneficial use. He said that his intentions were for the common good of all human kind, but I just could not believe him. Suffice to say that he was more than just disappointed." At this point, Cysgod faltered, reaching up to his neck and clenching his scarf in his fist. "A few days later…the demon returned…violently." He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. "It was a massacre! The young man from earlier had antagonized some of our enemies to attack us in the dead of night. He supplied them with weaponry of the highest grade and personally eliminated a full quarter of us by himself. He razed the encampment to the ground stole my research and ki-!" he shuddered.

"I understand, you don't have to explain anymore. Was the businessman…Occulta?" Cysgod nodded.

"Yeah…and I'm personally going to make him pay for every soul that was lost that night."

**Governor's Palace, Settlement**

Clovis had thought a lot during the last few hours, probably the hardest he had ever thought in his life. Martial law was being enforced throughout Area 11. The only places of residence that the military was not going into were the ghettos. There was enough on his plate already; Clovis didn't want to worry about a Number's uprising. Euphemia was pacing back and forth, ringing her hands while slowly getting over the anxiety she was feeling over the loss of her family.

"Clovis?"

"Yes Euphie?"

"What did Alexander Daemon mean by: nuclear capabilities?"

"I don't know," said Clovis, leaning on the top of his desk. "All that I know is that it is probably bad. I need to talk to the Earl of Pudding sometime today. But more importantly, I need to get you a personal guard or at least a knight for your protection."

Euphemia crossed to the window and looked over the settlement.

"Why are such people here? They can't be mad; otherwise they wouldn't be able to cause such damage. Where did they come from? What makes them believe that they are entitled to the land Britannia is in control of? And what makes them believe that we stole the land from them?"

"That, at least, is simple." Clovis looked at the ceiling, making a good effort to suppress his anger at a foe he could not reach at that point in time. "They were created just to rattle us. Kill off most of the royal family and scare us into believing that it is the fault of our ancestors that we inherited the responsibility of paying for non-existent crimes."

**Middle East**

"There's the checkpoint." Rivalz righted himself to see that they were approaching a guard station with two guards, dressed in a dark garb and carrying rifles. There was a barrier across the road, like the kind of barrier he expected to see at a train crossing that consisted of a metal pole that raised and lowered depending on whether or not it was okay for people to pass or not. They stopped at the gate and the driver addressed one of the two guards.

"We're here on behalf of Alexander Daemon," he said, flipping open an id and a badge. "X Division of the Universo Mundo Novo Exercitus." The guard examined the id and nodded to his partner, who raised the gate.

"Go on in," the first guard said, waving them through.

[Many Men {clean version} (Get Rich or Die Tryin' / 50 Cent) – PLAY]

A few miles later, Rivalz would found himself looking upon what he would describe as a cross between a terrorists' compound, a third-world village, and a high-tech lightshow.

[Many Men - 0:11]

Most of the housing were a step up from the houses he saw in the ghettos of Area 11. The walls and roofs made out of varying mixtures of dirt, concrete, wood, and metal; but inter-linking the buildings were shiny pipes of a metallic substance that Rivalz guessed to be either improved plumbing or electric wiring. In, on, and around the buildings were men, women, and children in relatively poor clothing. Mixed in with the civilians however were young men bearing rifles and machine guns. These men also had on some form of black clothing, armbands or a coat or even a hat; probably to allow the guards to identify each other. Every yard or so, and increasing in number as the went further into the village, were stalls and vendors selling numerous wares. But the most astonishing part of the compound was a large complex at the center of the village next to an odd-looking church. It was all colored a weird grayish-blue with large neon letters over the sets of windowed doors that marked the entrance. In alternating blue, green, purple, white, and orange were the words: Arakiss Renegade Social Expenditure. The jeep was stopped in front of the "Expenditure" and the two men pulled Rivalz from the back, dragging him across the sand-covered ground. A set of glass doors opened and three individuals stepped out. Two of them had all black outfits and masked faces, one had on a gas mask while the other had his own head covered in an over-large handkerchief. The one in between them however, didn't look much older than Rivalz himself. He had on blue pants, strange sneakers, sunglasses with rectangular lenses, and a black button-up shirt that hung open to reveal a white t-shirt with an insignia on it. The insignia was a set of angelic wings sprouting from the sides of a red letter F. Above the "F" and between the wings were some black markings, a yellow-ish grey circle with an odd "S"-like symbol in the middle, and five pairs of black letters: Bo Co Ga Ge Lu. The kid was perhaps an inch taller than Rivalz and had a head of dirty blonde hair that was combed so that it spiked up in the front.

"Well?" the kid spoke, "is this it?"

"A gift from Daemon to the leader of the Facinus," answered on of the terrorists. The kid then burst out laughing.

"That nut-head is losing his touch! If he thinks that I need a reminder as to who is the conquer and who is the criminal, then he's becoming a fool."

"Hold on," Rivalz spoke up before he stopped himself, "are _you_ the head of this...Facinus?" The boy laughed again.

"Quite sharp you are, I think I'm going to like you. Yes, I am Alex Powers, Head of the Powers Facinus." He turned his attention to the two terrorists who had delivered Rivalz. "Tell your boss that the arrangements are the same as before. Occulta stays away from my business, and Alex stays away from the spoils of Utopian conquest. Now get lost."

* * *

**HI there! Me again. Thank you all for the reviews, critics, and support. I might-as-well warn you guys that I am going to take a 1-month break from Occulta Rising for a more..."personal" project. I do promise however, 30 days starting ****tomorrow, I will resume Occulta Rising. Don't be afraid to stay in touch, I'm always open for ideas and dialog. Hoping to get done with "The Project" soon and actually return to what is more exciting,**

**Ezekiel Zeta Stigma**

**P.S. For a better imagery of the Facinus insignia on Alex Powers' shirt, Google "russian mafia logo" under images and look for something similar **


	11. The Young-faced Godfather

**Area 11**

**woodland 2 miles outside of the Shinjuku Ghetto**

"What a dump."

Lelouch and the others have all entered another warehouse. This one cleverly hidden by trees and in obvious need of repair.

"This used to belong to the Japanese air force before the Britainians invaded," Ohgi explained. "I know it needs some work, but it's the best place I could think of to hide." The student body situated themselves admist a pile of boxes labeled in Japanese writing. Milly stopped to examine one.

"What does this say?" she asked, pointing at the label. Kallen came over then almost immediately grabbed a nearby crowbar.

"Good eye Ashford," she said, stabbing the crowbar between the planks, "this box should hold Arisaka Type-99s."

"Uh…what?" Kallen removed the top of the box and then cried out in delight. "Bonzai! Fourth generation bolt-action Arisaka rifles. Out of date by at least 20 years, but its accuracy should be on par with most Britainian rifles."

"Pathetic," Cysgod muttered, looking over Kallen's shoulder.

"What did you say?"

"It looks like a good gun and all but compared to guns from other places that I have been...it's weak."

"And since when were you an expert on guns?"

"Ever since I started carring one," he explained in a simple tone, taking the revolver out of the inside of his coat.

"And that is supposed to be better than a rifle?"

"The range is certainly a matter of debate, but it has a higher rate of fire, is easier to clean, AND...it actually looks cool."

"What!?"

"Hey guys, can you get your butts over here for a second?" Tamaki demanded from accross the room, "I need some help to bust this door open."

**Arakiss Renegade Social Expenditure**

**Facinus Territory**

Cornelia continued to sit on the floor with her back against the wall. She still couldn't believe that she wasn't dead already. She was half-blind, one of her legs appeared to have a permament limp, and her shoulder still hurt. In addition, she has been told that Britainia no longer existed and she was now about to be sold to the highest bidder. Why can't she just die right now? According to her captors, just about all of the royal family was ahnilated. Area 11 was all that was left. Euphie, she must have escaped somehow, she must have. She would feel a whole lot better if she knew Euphie was still alive.

beep beep beep

Cornelia's attention snapped to the door as it opened and two men tossed in a third before the door slid shut. "Ow! You common crooks! You could at least refrain from being rough!" His voice shocked her. He was an obvious Britainian youth, a student unless she's mistaken.

"Hello there," she lightly greeted. The student looked over and responded with surprise.

"Princess...Cornelia?"

"Well, what's left of her," she said glumly. "What is your name boy?"

"Rivalz Cardemonde, member of the Ashford Academy student council."

"Ashford Academy, I see."

"What happened to you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"The invasion force I was commanding got attacked. They were using machines that were far better than Knightmare Frames. One of the attackers, maybe their leader, challenged me to a duel. He won without any real effort on his part. Then I was discovered by these guys and brought here. I don't think they were the same poeple who attacked me."

"The Facinus?"

"What?"

"That's what these people call themselves: Powers Facinus, or something like that."

"Hold on, if you're originally from Ashford Academy, then how did you end up-"

beep beep beep

The door opened again and three guys appeared outside. "Get up and come with us," one of them ordered. "The boss wants to have a little chat with you two."

**Area 11**

**Honorary Britainian Barracks**

Suzaku Kurougi sat in the weapons room, staring at the helmit in his hands.

First Japan, then Britainia, is it the fate of the Japanese to be a constant dying breed? If all that they had to worry about was the elimination of the royal family, then they would just ask Clovis for their soveirgnty back. But Britainia itself has been taken, and it was obvious that Clovis wasn't going anywhere. The Japanese Liberation Front is still quite strong, but the bloodshed would make everyone in Japan weak.

"Oh father," he said to himself, "I know you probably hate me because of what I did, but I don't know what to do now. Help me father."

**Arakiss Renegade Social Expenditure**

[Check In (Rehab / Lecrae) - PLAY]

With Rivalz supporting Cornelia, they were marched into an elevator. After several moments, the elevator opened and their escorts led them down the hallway to a set of double doors and two more gaurds. The guards nodded their heads and opened the doors for them to pass through.

[Check In - 0:23]

It was a dark, and near-chaotic party house. It was obviously a club of some sort, but there seemed to be more adolesents than adults. Lights were pulsating everywhere throughout the dimly lit room. The room itself was big enough to house a dance for Ashford Academy students. There were elevated levels around the edges that were easily accesible by sloping floors and a stage at the front. But there didn't appear to be any instruments, and the music was the strangest that Rivalz and Cornelia have ever heard. They were led to one of the upper levels where, at a table, Alex Powers sat, surveying the scene while taking a bite out of what appeared to be a samwhich.

"Ah, thank you for coming. Lady and kid, please take a seat, thank you guys I can handle this." Rivalz helped Cornelia to a seat as the gaurds left.

"Who the hell are you, boy?" Cornelia sneered at Alex.

"Now, now, your highness. You're still in a pitful state, it would be best if you did not try anything reckless here. It just won't end well for you. My name is Alex Powers, the head of the Powers Facinus, the best-syndicate-ever...of all time."

"Is this nut-head serious?" she asked Rivalz. He responded with a shrug.

"Yes I am," Alex answered her question and then continued on. "I started this organization from scratch and I now have a hand in organized vice in so many places that you haven't even heard of them.

[Check In - END]

Huh, that was shorter then I thought it would be, need to put something snappy on before I loose customers." He leaned a little over the railing and called down. "Hey! Pacho!"

"Qué!"

"Get Oliver up there, have him play Push It to the Limit."

"From the Jump In soundtrack? Es usted un idiota o qué?"

"Not that one estupido! The Cuban cartel version!"

"Oh, si senior!" Alex recentered himself in his seat, shaking his head.

"People like Pacho are so difficult, but you must admire such folks for their work ethic." Alex stopped speaking and reached behind him, bringing his hand back to present a drink can of some sort. It was blue with a red and blue circle super-imposed on it along with the word: Pepsi. "Want one?"

"No thanks," Rivalz answered in a rushed tone, "I'm below the legal age anyhow." Alex gave them a look of annoyance.

"It isn't alcohol stupid. It's the latest craze, imported striaght from the real America."

"But that doesn't even look like it was made in Britainia," Cornelia obsereved.

"Of course it isn't. It would probably be called: Royal Carbonation if it was. This came from the land, if not the world, of my birth. The United States of America."

"You're a Serpent!" Rivalz suddenly blurted out, pointing an accusing finger. Alex burst out laughing.

"Absolutly not, racial socialism is bad for business. Left wing thinking always leads to bad business, espaicially Nazism."

"What the heck is Nazism?" Rivalz asked aloud. Alex waved the question away.

"Nevermind that, the entertainment is about to be kicked up a notch." He gestured to the stage, where some young Facinus members were setting up something with strange devices.

"Are all your thugs this young?" Cornelia asked. Alex shrugged.

"Most of them are younger, but I make a habit of leaving the dirty work to the older ones. Now shut up, Oliver is about to begin." On the stage, the Facinus members had finished setting up and only five were on the stage.

[Push It to the Limit (Scarface Soundtrack) - PLAY]

Music started up again. This time, most of the people in the club started dancing. Alex leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on the railing while opening the can of "Pepsi" and taking a swig.

"Look, I'm not going to sell either of you to the Serpents, but both of you are obviously going to stay here for a long time. Just sit back, relax, have some imported delicacies, and enjoy some rock and roll for crying out loud. Unlike music with no lyrics, you might actually learn something."

* * *

**Well, I'm back, just as I promised. Please read and review as you see fit (please).**

**EzekielZetaStigma**


	12. History and Mythology

**Area 11**

**Abandoned Base**

"So this actually used to be an air force base?" Lelouch asked Ohgi.

"Yes, I don't know all that happened, but it was abandoned not long after the introduction of the Knightmare frame."

"I see." The base itself wasn't a complete dump, but it needed a lot of work. The main order of business was finding accommodations for everyone. Cysgod kept telling them that he would just make due with whatever space was left available. The Resistance members wanted to situate themselves so that they would have a good view of the surrounding area in addition to not needing to move very far in case they need to respond quickly. The student council, Lelouch included, not being fully comfortable with their new acquaintances, decided that they would be best in the center of the facility. And CC, for some odd reason, decided to stay with the student council. Right now they were clearing out what appeared to be an old office space, moving the desks and chairs to the wall and stacking them on top of each other.

"Well, this actually looks like home," said Cysgod, looking over the room.

"This isn't even close to home," Nina muttered, dropping onto the floor, looking flustered after helping lift the heavy desks.

"Well, it looks like we have to get used to it," said Milly. Lelouch and Shirley helped a night-dressed Nunnally into a sleeping bag.

"Cysgod," Lelouch pondered, "how long have you been fighting this Occulta guy?"

"Just over a year by now." Cysgod sat on the floor with his back to the wall. "I was able to chase after him only a full year after the monster ruined my life."

"Why a year? Even if you were seriously hurt, it would only take three or four months before you were ready to go again."

"Even a prodigy could be slow."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You still don't ask the important question: how does he travel between worlds?" Everyone froze as Cysgod let his words sink in.

"Are you saying...that YOU'RE the reason Occulta and Daemon and the UMNE were actually able to travel to our world in the first place?!"

"Not exactly, but maybe."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Cysgod adjusted his scarf as he answered.

"I was born into a tribe of scientists, of sorts. My research is properly known as the Universal Multi-Link Theroy. However, you would probably understand the research better by it's nick-name...

...the Ley-Line Formula Theroy."

**SUSA**

**UMNE temporary HQ**

**undisclosed location**

**codenamed: Octagon**

Alexander Daemon came into the briefing room. Four operatives were situated around the room. Two were young men, another was defiantly female, and the fourth...he was actually not sure.

Didn't matter, he knew who they were.

"So...this is who volunteered," said Daemon, surveying the group. "Krieg Scharfschützen, Adamska Strelok, Tine, and Anon-Interfector. I'm glad you all made it. I know there is a lot to do before the second phase of Operation: Hellfire, but I need you four to prepare for an...eventuality."

"Are you saying you made a mistake?"

"No Tine, I made no mistake. You all know about the Far-Traveling Alchemist I assume?"

"So he finally decided to show some back-bone?" asked Adamska, twirling a small automatic pistol around his middle finger.

"I guess you can say that. He directly interfered with the Serpents' Operations in Japan, preventing in the assassination of one of our secondary targets."

"The weakling from that elite private school?" Anon-Interfector asked, his/her voice obscured through a voice modifer attached to his mask, which also hid his/her/...ITS...features.

"Correct. Now, it will go without saying that Cysgod will make another move sometime soon. I give you four three objectives. First: locate and maintain surveillance of Cysgod Eardom-Dorcha. Two: gather intelligence on the Britannian remnant in Japan, including battle strength. And three: assist in the eventual elimination of the Britannian remnant. I will give the go ahead signal for the annihilation mission 24 hours in advance. Understood?" All of them said: yes sir. Krieg raised a hand.

"What is or method of insertion sir?"

"You and Tine are going in via SDVs (Swimmer Delivery Vehicles). Anon and Strelok will enter by way of HALO jumps (High Altitude - Low Open)."

"Dammit!" Tine cursed. She never liked water that much.

"Do we have HFC?"

"No Krieg, but you do have ADS."

"It would be a lot easier and less of a hassle if you told us to just kill Cysgod when we find him," Anon muttered. Daemon ignored him.

"Very well, briefing is finished. You will depart in 5 hours."

"Just one last question Master Daemon." It was Strelok of course, a young and ambitious gunfighter who just aged twenty as the Operation began its first phase. He always saved a question for last, and he was one of a few elite soldiers who referred to him as: Master. "How will we be able to collect accurate battle strength? We will need to see them in action to even make a basic assessment."

Daemon smiled as he answered. "Don't worry, arrangements will be made. By the way, initial speculations about the combat personel of Alpha Division have been confirmed."

**Area 11**

**Abandoned Base**

"Ley-Line Formula?" Lelouch wondered aloud. "Alleged alignments of a number of places of geographical and historical interests?"

"A text book answer," Cysgod complemented. "But there is a second, more supernatural definition."

"But those are myths?" Cysgod then slowly stood and strode to the window before looking back to Lelouch and saying: "How about a demonstration?"

* * *

Barley a few minutes later and Lelouch, Milly, Ohgi, and three other resistance members stood outside as Cysgod and CC were positioned in full view.

"So...are you going to move CC from one place to another?"

"Absolutely not, that would be a waste of both time and energy. No, I'm going to demonstrate the relative difference between fantasy and reality. He then approached CC and handed her a silenced handgun that he had found in the same room as the Arisaka rifles. "Would you please? I already know what is going to happen."

"Understood," CC said with a brief nod. And without a single change of expression and before anyone could do anything, she raised the gun to her head and fired a silenced shot. Everyone shouted in shock and staggered a few steps back.

"What the hell Cysgod!" Lelouch yelled, "What did you just do!?"

"Don't be such an alarmist 'Lelu,' you act as though you never saw blood before."

"Why did you kill her dammit!"

"Yeah, I think you need to try a different sentence."

"Excuse me?"

"Wow...he did know about that." Everyone stared and actually stepped back several more steps back, all of them now wide-eyed and white-faced, as the lifeless body of CC calmly spoke and stood up, slowly vanishing red marks on both sides of her head showed the obvious path of the bullet through her skull.

The others were simply speechless.

"CC has Geass, the power of kings. It would certainly explain why the Britannians were holding her captive. Believe me when I say that this is something people from my universe will be unable to comprehend." He retrieved the gun and turned back to the others.

"Ley-Lines are means of teleportation between realms. Normally, Ley-Lines would be impossible to create without some form of magic. It was actually by pure luck that I was able to formalize it for the sole purpose of advanced science. But then Occulta came along and stole my research from me after razing my home to the ground. My sister and I are the only survivors from that massacre, and Occulta took away my sister too! It was a long and hard war between us. With each universe we travel to, we both get stronger. But Occulta has come out of the shadows much earlier than this. He was always there in the open. Even though this is the first time he actually did something on such a large scale, terrorism and military takeovers are obvious tactics he would choose. He did it before, he's doing it now, and he'll do it again. So tell me...are you going to doubt something as trivial as Ley-Lines simply because you think they are simply the stuff of legends?"

* * *

**Yes, yes, I know, chances are that CC wouldn't have healed that quickly from a gunshot wound to the head. But I just couldn't have a fifteen minute dialog before she wakes. 1: that would just be boring, and 2: no one in their right minds would stand still for five minutes after they just witnessed someone commit "suicide."  
Thanking you for reading up to this point,**

**Ezekiel Zeta Stigma**

**Please R & R (Read & Review)**


	13. Out of Tyranny & into Hell

**Area 11  
Abandoned Base**

"So what are we going to do?" asked Shirley as the student council all got ready for the night. As it turned out, the resistance group had a cache of clothes mixed in with the rest of the supplies they brought with them, even night clothes. It took a while to get all the right sizes, but this issue was soon resolved. The girls made the obvious majority so Lelouch was forced to changed behind a curtain that Cysgod quickly erected, simply saying with a shrug: "I thought you would probably need it, girls can be quite vicous when the situation calls for it." That, at least, was something else Lelouch could agree with. Personally, he felt as though he was usurped. Here comes this "advanced scientist" out of nowhere, and he is instantly the expert on the situation. Just downright annoying, especially if you were a Britannian Prince who was forced to flee into exile.

"Nothing yet," he said from behind the curtain, having finished putting on his pajamas. "Cysgod said that he needed to see what we have before he has any idea of what to do."

"So Cysgod is the leader now?" Milly inquired.

"No, but he is the one who understands the situation better than anyone else. He even knew about the attack on Ashford Academy, remember."

"I'm still surprised that he isn't Britainnian or a number," Nina said softly.

"I think he is someone altogether different," said Nunnally, who was pulled from her sleeping bag and needed Milly's help to get dressed. "I know I'm not the best judge of that sort of thing, but I do feel comforted somewhat. What does he look like?"

"Well," said Shirley, pursing her lips while trying to figure out how to describe a person to someone who couldn't see. "He is about Lelouch's height, so a little under 6 feet. He has dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. He is well-built, if a little lanky. And what he was wearing? He wore a grayish blue shirt and dark gray pants. Black shoes with no laces. And over it all a black trench coat; a large coat with long lengths that drop to the ground around his ankles."

"So his coat doubles as a cloak?"

"Actually, yes. I'm surprised I didn't think of comparing the two."

"Umm...when are you girls going to be done changing?" Lelouch asked, starting to feel cramped in the tiny space he was forced to change in.

* * *

Cysgod stood on the roof of the base, looking up at the moon and holding his multi-dialed pocket watch in his hands.

"Verita...Clara..." he whispered softly to himself and closed his eyes.

"Reminiscing?" His eyes snapped open as Kallen appeared, wearing a simple, dark red night gown. "I do that a lot when there is often not much else for me to do," she continued, rubbing her eyes with her wrists. Cysgod stowed away his watch and snorted.

"Aren't you supposed to be getting some shut-eye samurai?"

"Ha-ha," Kallen replied, not really laughing. "You're not the boss of me, besides which, you should be getting some sleep yourself. Espeacially considering that you single-handedly saved four students from certain death."

"I don't want to."

"Huh?" That response actually surprised Kallen, who could possibly not want to sleep after a rough day.

"I can barely even dream anymore. All my dreams are nightmares."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You must have been through a lot."

"Tell me about it. Now shouldn't you be having dreams of your own before you lose your mind to nightmares as well?"

**Arakiss Renegade Social Expedenture**

"_We're spending all our lives living in a mobster's paradise!_" Alex Powers sang softly to himself as he progressed down to his office. When he got there he was immediately set upon by two message boys.

"Boss Powers," said the first one, "one of our Cola/Pepsi shipments were intercepted."

"Really? That's excellent, I never thought anyone would try to stop me there. Who intercepted it?"

"The LAPD, Rush Universe."

"What? Ah! Now that is just insulting. The the hell happened? Soda smuggling is the easiest job around."

"According to the report, the members involved were arrested under suspision of vandalism, theft, harboring runaways, and graffiti painting."

"Well graffiti is just art, but all that other crap is ridiculous. We don't even steal the stuff we're smuggling." Alex gave an exhausted sigh. "Oh well, are the members in question from that universe?"

"No but two of them came from a different LA."

"Gosh darn! I guess I have to go get them myself. What else is going on?" he asked the other messenger boy.

"Activity involving a Neo-Nazi group in Germany and the actions of the IRA lead us to conclude the identification of another universe."

"Why, who's there?" The messenger told him, and Alex smiled.

"I see, fill me in on it later. I'm guessing you identified it as the H- Universe?"

"Yes sir."

"I see," Alex said, getting to his feet (he had been sitting down this whole time drinking Orange Fanta). "Things are starting to get wild!"

**Supreme United States of America**

It was total upheaval.

[Mercy in Darkness (Two Steps from Hell) - PLAY]

Although you can imagine how the people thought. The Britainnians felt like the entire world was collapsing beneath their feet and the Numbers were either hoping that SUSA would be better than the Holy Britainnian Empire, or dreading that it would be far worse.  
The soldiers of both the Sons of the Serpents and the UMNE patrolled the streets. Looters and people who were just running were executed on sight. Former Britainnian soldiers were forced into trucks and hauled away to places unknown, by force if they didn't comply right away. Knights and Knights of Honor were thrown into the middle of open squares and utterly humiliated for the "crimes of their ancestors." Barons, Viscounts, Earls, Margraves, and all other forms of nobility were publicly executed. The UMNE would just take them into the street and fire a single shot to the head, but the Serpents! The Serpents were defiantly the descendants of snakes. They went out of their way just to show the absolute hatred they had stored up for the Britainnian Empire. The servants and the offspring of nobles were treated in the same kindness. The servants were corralled outside of their respected estates and gunned down, all in a row. The children, between the ages of 17 and infant, were taken onto trucks for a different location. this location, like the Britainnian soldiers, was unknown but was referred to by the conquerors as "Infernum in Terra."

The days ahead, were sure to get darker still.

[Mercy in Darkness - END]


	14. Suzaku's Discovery

**Area 11  
Abandoned Base**

Lelouch woke up and wondered where he was. It didn't take him long to remember everything from playing chess with the nobles to the accident on the highway, the fall of Britainnia, hearing of the attack on the school, meeting Cysgod, fleeing to the abandoned base, and then hearing Cysgod's talk on Ley-Lines. Every detail was etched in his brain, just like...then. His mother's murder, Nunnally's blindness, and the Emperor's response.

He would remember both days as days that would change his fate.

He looked down to see Nunnally, quietly sleeping in his embrace. He cast his gaze around the room to see the rest of the girls were still asleep. He checked his watch. It was almost six o'clock in the morning. He decided to close his eyes for a little bit longer.

* * *

**Honorary Britannian Barracks**

Suzaku woke up, got dressed, and did his morning exercises.

Britannia was dead.

He then went to the mess hall where most of the soldiers who were there ate in silence and barley spoke.

Britannia was dead.

He went to the firing range for a few minutes. He was only one of four people there.

Britannia was dead.

After which he went to the library. He was the only one there.

Britannia was dead.

"Damn it!" He slammed his fist on the table, causing a crack to appear in the wood.

"Dreadful isn't it?" Suzaku jumped and looked up to see a young man around his age and height with serious blue eyes and dark brown hair. He was wearing a grey, long-sleeved shirt and a weapon harness with black cargo pants and black boots. In his harness, he had a black sidearm of a make that Suzaku never saw before.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Suzaku demanded. This guy appeared to be Britannian but one could never be too careful. The person gestured to the library door.

"I came in through there, and my name is unimportant."

"I'll be the judge of what I perceive as important or not," Suzaku answered back. The stranger gave an irritated sigh.

"Very well, my name is Faux Nom."

"That's your name? Kind of odd isn't it?" The stranger sighed again, this time more depressed.

"I said my name was of no importance." Suzaku relaxed, but only a little.

"Are you of the Britannian military?"

"A knight of honor, yeah. I was stationed in the Philippines until the day before yesterday. My family is still there."

"Oh, I'm sorry. How old are you?"

"Seventeen, I joined just last year in my fathers' honor."

"Your father was?"

"Nom Volee, Hero of Area 12."

"Oh, I think I heard about him. He saved the life of one of Britannia's Royals right?"

"First Prince Odysseus, yes, with his life."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, just look at the world right now. Just yesterday the greatest empire in the world was brought to its knees. We even suffered an attack in Area 11."

"We have?"

"You haven't heard? Ashford Private Academy was attacked by the Sons of the Serpents for no apparent reason."

"Ashford? Weren't they a high-ranking family at one point?"

"They were, quite a fall. First wealth and prestige, then reduced to educating the ignorant, then shattered as the head was killed off and the daughter is labeled as missing. They will probably be known as the cursed family in the history books. And to think it all started with the death of Lady Marianne."

"What?" This made Suzaku straighten up. "Was the Ashford family connected to Lady Marianne in any way?"

"Yeah, they were extremely close. That's part of the reason why the family fell so far with her assassination."

Marianne, Suzaku thought, the Serpents specifically targeted the royal family and the Ashfords were connected to Marianne. So that would mean the Serpents were looking for... "Lelouch."

"What?"

"Er...nothing," Suzaku said as he stood up. "I just remembered something I need to check on. Sorry to cut or meeting short. We need to meet again sometime."

"Oh don't worry about it," Faux said as Suzaku left the library in a mad dash, "we will."

* * *

**Abandoned Base**

"What time is it?" Milly asked, slipping her clothes on. Lelouch was behind the curtain again, he answered with crossed arms.

"Seven thirty-five in the morning."

"What a ghastly hour to wake up!"

"Don't complain Milly," said Shirley, having finished dressing Nunnally. "Now that I think about it, this is probably the way things are going to be from now on."

"I don't think it's supposed to be like this though," said Nina, adjusting her glasses.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...we're Britannian citizens! We don't have to hide in the woods, we have families and homes to go to. We have no business being with these elevens!"

There was a knock on the door.

"Hey, it's me, mind if I come in?" Shirley was the first to recognize the voice.

"Oh, please do come in Kallen." The door opened and Kallen entered wearing denim pants, a dark green t-shirt, and a dark gray jacket with a hood.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we need to size you all up."

"Size...us...up?" asked Lelouch from behind the curtain.

"Yeah, just in case, you know, if something happens. We don't want any of you to die after all the effort we spent in order to keep you alive."

* * *

**Area 11  
Ashford Academy**

Suzaku got out of the taxi he was in and approached the alma matter. There were police lines, crime scene tape, and boarded up holes from explosions, but no police or military or even firemen. What the heck is going on? He cast his gaze around and spied a man in his late thirties and wearing a police uniform striding across the lawn. Suzaku stepped under the crime tape and approached the man.

"Excuse me sir, do you know why there isn't any police over here?" The policeman shrugged.

"Clovis has ordered both the military and the police to enforce martial law. We're supposed to prevent crime and yet we can't solve any." He shook his head in apparent dismay. "If you intend to steal anything, be sure to either steal loose change or steal the whole campus."

"I'll keep that in mind sir, thank you sir." Suzaku bowed to the man then entered the school.

Lets see, if Lelouch was here then he wouldn't want to be very far from Nunnally. So he would probably arrange for them to be in the same dorm. In addition, it would probably be the dorm with the most convenience to Nunnally. So that would be the girls dorm. He searched through the many rooms until he found a high-class suite. Apart from the blood stain by the door, the room was surprisingly clean. He opened a drawer next to a dining table but then quickly withdrew his hands, gasping as though he had just received an electric shock.

It was a picture, a picture of Lelouch, Nunnally, Suzaku, and Suzaku's cousin at a Shinto shrine.

They were here. Further examination of the floor showed tracks for Nunnally's wheelchair. But the entire section of the dorm was untouched. He continued searching the rooms until he found a simple dorm room with...huh? This room was just like most of the others, partly shot up with a blood patch either on the wall, bed, or floor. But the main desk in the room was clearly searched. Suzaku went through the desk and didn't find much apart from a few pictures, a school schedule, and two science text books. But the computer was a different story. He reached for the power switch only to find that the computer was only in hibernation. He tapped a few keys and brought up the screen from when the computer was last used. A little box with a full loading bar was centered on screen with a simple message.

FILE TRANSFER COMPLETE  
YOU MAY NOW REMOVE DATA STORAGE DEVICE

What the hell?

* * *

Outside of the Academy, a figure knelt on the ground, face hidden and holding a pair of binoculars.

"You found something? Good, now I just need to keep you alive."


	15. Ghost?

**Area 11  
Abandoned Base**

Cysgod Eardrom-Dorcha reclined on a pile of creates, examining his multi-dialed watch again.

"Why must you always be concerned with the time?" Cysgod looked up at Kallen in her casual clothing as the rest of the resistance members were waiting for the Ashford students to get their new sets of clothing.

As it turned out, Nagata and Minami both volunteered to get civilian clothing from a settlement warehouse for the student council because Cysgod pointed out that, because of the attack on Ashford Academy, the students would be in just as much danger as the rest of them. Why? No idea, but better safe than sorry.

Cysgod stood and stretched.

"It isn't time that I'm usually concerned about."

"Then how come you're always looking at your watch?" Kallen asked, her arms crossed.

"This isn't that kind of watch. Now if you don't mind, I need to poke around and see if there is anything we could actually use in this abandoned dump."

* * *

**Ashford Academy**

Suzaku's mind was racing now. If the Serpents weren't looking for Lulouch and Nunnally, then what were they looking for, or rather, what did they find?

His eyes ran over the desk and spied a small portrait that had been knocked over. He picked up the frame and held it in the palm of his hand. It was a picture of a woman and a girl, like a mother and daughter. Both had dark green, almost olive colored, hair and indigo eyes. They were dressed formally in what appeared to be higher-middle class dress. The woman had an arm wrapped around the shoulders of the girl, who in turn appeared to be leaning into her. Suzaku carefully removed the photo from its frame and placed it into the breast pocket of his uniform. Returning his attention to the computer, he clicked a few more keys and was suddenly presented with a series of figures, charts, and diagrams. It made absolutely no sense to Suzaku, except that it has to do with some sort of science. He searched through the desk again and found a small data disc in one of the smaller drawers. He stuck the disc in the computer and began to copy the files.

* * *

There was a soft and sudden "putt-putt" noise as one of a group of five Serpents shot down the police officer with a silenced pistol.

"Alright, the fuzz is down and out!" said the Serpent with the silenced sidearm. "Lets get in and clean house."

"Don't you mean 'clean school'?" asked one of the younger Serpents. The other four just gave him dirty looks.

"Shut up!"

* * *

Suzaku continued searching the room for anything that could be useful; a name, location, anything on the identity of the resident.

Nothing of course, the room was obviously searched long before he got there.

FILE TRANSFER COMPLETE  
YOU MAY NOW REMOVE DATA DISC

Suzaku removed the disc and placed it in a CD case.

* * *

A black-haired man dropped through a hole in the ceiling, landing on the floor like a cat. Out of paranoia, he checked the transponders in his belt, the lapels of his coat, and six other places. Good, they were all off. He didn't want anyone to know where he was just yet. He placed a gas mask on his face and then opened the case he had brought with him.

"Hello my beauties," he said, eyeing the contents.

* * *

Suzaku held the disc in his hands as he left the dorm room and started back down the hallway. At least there is still a chance that Lelouch and Nunnally were still alive. He continued walking, staring at the disc. What could possibly be going on here?

cli-click

Suzaku's eyes widened, his adrenaline kicked in, and he lunged forward and dived across an entry way.

Bang!

A bullet flew past and embedded itself in the right where his head just was.

"Damnit! We got a runner!"

Suzaku was already running and bolted down the next hall. He had gotten a glimpse of someone wearing all green, so he knew immediately who he was dealing with. Sons of the Serpents! His mind was racing as he made another turn, hoping to throw off his pursuers and get out of there. Just how many of them were there? he thought furiously, if there's only a few then it should be easy to elude them.

"Freeze Jap!" an angry voice announced before a spray of bullets peppered the wall and ceiling with a crooked line of bullet holes. Suzaku skidded to a halt and flattened himself against the wall as he found himself being corralled by five Serpents, all armed with pistols and sub-machine guns.

"What you think you're doing here Jap?" one of them sneered.

"None of your business," Suzaku answered back, measuring distances and slightly surprised that they called him "Jap" instead of "Eleven."

"Well what ever your business is," said another, "you happen to be in our way. So we'll just kill you and take that disc for star-"

Five shots rang out in split-second secession Three pistols were shot out of the hands of their users and two sub-machine guns jerked in the hands of the other two Serpents, who all responded with either: "son of a-" or "what the-."

"Behold, descendants of snakes in their human forms."

"Who the hell!" The Serpents turned around and Suzaku looked on to see a figure simply stride into sight, wearing all black with shaggy black hair and a gas mask covering his mouth and nose, a large coat slung over his left shoulder, and a revolver in his right hand. When he spoke, his voice sounded altered and distorted.

"The dogs of the mighty Daemon, the hired guns of Occulta."

"Up yours!" a Serpent shouted, drawing a second pistol from under his clothes and firing.

The stranger blinked. The Serpents and Suzaku stared as the Serpent who fired at him began to visibly shake.

"Nu-no way! You're within close range! How could I miss?" The stranger answered this question with an accompanying shimmer, causing Suzaku to rub his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things.

"You think you can shoot me?" The stranger lazily angled his revolver and fired, knocking the Serpent's gun out of his hands again. "You can not kill me," the stranger continued, holstering his revolver and putting on his large, black coat that ended up trailing down to the ground. He then drew a second revolver from a holster on his other side and spun the chamber. "Six shots...enough to kill anything that moves, and one specter...enough to install fear and dread into the souls of the living." He spun the revolver around his finger as he stepped to the right, and the left, and back?

Suzaku witnessed two more individuals stepping out from the outline of the stranger. There were three of them! all alike and moving in sequence! How was this possible. The two Serpents with sub-machine guns opened fire. The three figures swayed independently of each other, causing Suzaku to register after-images of the spectacle. Both guns clicked empty and two of the illusions flickered and slowly vanished.

"I already told you," the nightmare in front of them said, "you can not kill Ghost!" He then quickly lowered his stance, slammed down the hammer of his revolver and fired five shots in less then two seconds. The Serpents dropped to the ground and lay unmoving. The stranger took a few steps forward, holding the revolver in front of his face. What did he say before? Six shots? "I know you're not going to surrender that," he told Suzaku, eyeing the disc in Suzaku's hands, "but the information must be used for the good of humanity."

"Do you even know what's on here?" Suzaku questioned, his eyes seeing what could possibly be mist inside the building. He was probably losing it.

"I do know, as a matter of fact," the distorted voice of the stranger answered. "But I would never tell anything valid to another soul!"

[Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme (Greatest Video Game Music album) - PLAY]

He raised the gun, he pulled back the hammer, no way he could miss. Suzaku's mind began to slow down.

I'm sorry...father...Nunnally...Lelouch...I've failed you all...

[Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme - 0:35 PAUSE]

cli-click

Both Suzaku and Ghost registered the sound. Ghost turned round and fired his shot.

[Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme - 0:36 PLAY]

Someone jumped across the hallway and fired a salvo of shots from a semi-automatic pistol. Ghost and Suzaku both dived away in opposite directions.

"Go Suzaku! Get out of here!" Suzaku didn't need telling twice from anyone at that point. He took off and turned down another corridor, just how big was this place?

The new comer continued firing at Ghost, who had quickly reloaded both of his revolvers and came out firing, unleashing two of his doppelgangers to confuse his new opponent. Suzaku heard the distinct sounds of both guns getting louder as he continued to run. They were both following him. At that moment Ghost's distorted voice reverberation through the halls.

"Damn you all! Damn you all to the misty smog of hell!" Revolver shots were fired, grayish white smoke poured in from air ducts, and the lights were shot out with no available window to emit light. Suzaku bumped into someone, someones, and dropped the disc.

[Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme - 1:45]

Suzaku covered his mouth to stifle a cough, groping in the dark for the disc. As if the darkness wasn't bad enough, everything was becoming rather hazy. Must be because of the gas Ghost released. As his fingers skirted over the carpet, he thought his fingers caught the edge of the disc, but when he quickly tried to snatch it, he lost track of it. Wait, was that...yes! He grabbed the disc just as a grenade of some sort clunked on the ground and rolled.

[Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme - 2:15]

The "grenade" then detonated, releasing a flurry of snow-like metal strips that quickly flooded the hallway. Ghost growled and let lose, emptying his first revolver in exactly two seconds, the bullets richocheting off the walls as the second stranger grabbed Suzaku and shoved him toward the feeble light of window at the dead end of the corridor. The light wasn't as good as earlier, probably because there was both clouds in the sky with the threat of rain and the sun was still on the opposite side of the building anyhow.

Five shots echoed loudly and Suzaku felt, not to mention smelled, the hot rounds pass no more than an inch away from his being. Five holes were punctured in the window, making a basic outline of Suzaku's head, shoulders, and elbows.

"That's far enough," Ghost shouted angrily, aiming a revolver with his left hand. "I'm taking that disc." He pulled the hammer back, Suzaku shut his eyes, and there was one last gunshot.

[Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme - 2:34]

Suzaku opened his eyes, feeling no sense of pain. Both he and Ghost were frozen. Then...

"Eh-ah-ahhhh!"

Ghost dropped down to his knees as he grasped his left arm, bleeding while still holding a revolver.

"That was a chaff grenade Ghost," said the voice of the stranger, coming into view from behind Ghost. "You were using a magnetic field generator to avoid getting shot, in addition to your apparent ability to create copies of yourself. Congratulations, I'm surprised you were able to shoot straight with that thing on."

"Damn you, you're nothing but a greedy merc!" Ghost spat as the stranger, now mercenary, came into full view. He was garbed in combat pants and boots, a dark grey shirt with a white emblem of some sort on the right shoulder, and sleek white sunglasses. He held a handgun in his hands, firm and strong, an experienced combative. He responded to Ghost's remark with a shrug.

"If you like, but disc still belongs in the hands of that prodigy and his friends."

Ghost cried out in anger and pulled another gun from beneath his coat right as the young mercenary lunged at Suzaku, throwing them both through the window as a spray of bullets ripped through the air. Suzaku yelled as they fell down two stories and landed in the garbage filled trunk of an open-roof trailer. Back in the dorm, Ghost tossed a Glock-18 handgun aside and grumbled to himself as he sat down and brought his arm into the light to examine it. The injury wasn't that bad really, but it would still make things difficult. At least it was his left arm.

"Come on," the young mercenary urged after he forced open the trailer door, Suzaku almost throwing up as he stumbled out of the trailer.

"Who in their right *cough* mind would *cough* place a garbage filled trailer *cough* right next to a school?"

"The same kind of person who would send in a spy posing as the son of a dead hero," said the stranger. "Nice to meet you."

[Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty Theme - END]

* * *

**Abandoned Base**

"So what should we call this place?" Everyone at the base was primarily focused on making the place hospitable. This was actual hard for the resistance members because the student council, with a near-solid female majority, was already thinking about new layers of paint and new light fixtures. But at least it was getting easier to move around. Ohgi looked toward Lelouch.

"Should we name this place? Truth be told I forgot the name."

"How about Saisei?" asked Kallen. A few of the resistance members chorused in agreements.

"I like the sound of that," said Tamaki.

"What does that even mean?" asked Milly, helping Minami to move a crate of machine parts.

"Rebirth."

"Rebirth of what?"

"Nihon Shinsei, Rebirth of Japan, what else?"

"Are you forgetting who else lives here?" Lelouch asked, his arms crossed.

"If you blokes are going to start an argument of whose land is whose, then forget it," an annoyed Cysgod said, striding into the room where they all were with a bundle under his arm. "This place is officially named: Aontaithe Iarracht. If anyone asks, it means United Effort. If anyone has any complaints, take it up with Daemon."

"What's up with you?" Shirley asked, dusting her civilian clothes off. "You sound like something ticked you off."

"Occulta is about to make another move." Almost everyone gaped at CC, who was napping until then. Cysgod groaned.

"Of course he has, or rather he's going to." He dropped the bundle on a metal table and unfolded a newspaper from under his coat. "Anyone up for the morning report?"


	16. The Demon's Power

**Area 11  
Abandoned Base ("Aontaithe Iarracht"; if anyone cares)**

Everyone fixed their eyes upon the newspaper in Cysgod's hands. It's title, "Britannian Chronicle," was a paper that was sold in Area 11, but published back in the Homeland. Nothing unusual there, but the headline was what got everyone's attention. Half of them couldn't believe it. Some of the Resistance members clustered around Naomi and the computer she was working at.

"That can't be right," Noami said as her fingers flew over the keyboard. "Nothing like that has even happened yet."

"Exactly!" Cysgod snapped, slamming the paper down on a crate. "Occulta already has the world playing to his tune! Only another hour or so and he can practically print the news before it happens!"

"So you think this will happen?" asked Lelouch, turning his attention to Nunnally momentarily.

"Who knows Occulta the most here? Moi! So 'yes!' This-WILL-happen!" In the agonizing silence that followed, Nina hesitantly raised a hand.

"Um...just one question," her over-soft voice carried over. "Is this something related to when Daemon was talking about 'nuclear capabilities'?"

"Funny you of all people should be asking...Einstein."

* * *

**Settlement**

Suzaku sat in the passenger side of a car as the stranger who saved his life in the driver seat. The young mercenary with blonde hair that has been buzzed so that his scalp was only covered by about a centimeter-thick hair. He also seemed to have a tattoo on the side of his neck, but Suzaku could only see a tiny part of it.

"So who are you?" he asked as the young mercenary quickly navigated through traffic.

"Neither enemy nor friend."

"What does that even mean?"

"I'll be frank, I have absolutely no problem with Britannia getting wiped off the face of the Earth, but not by a group of slanderous wannabes hired out by a radical utopian. Things are going to get rough around here. Me and my organization are going to be a front against what's about to come."

"Are you saying the Sons of the Serpents are nothing more than hired guns?"

"Not quite, but that isn't the point. The main thing is, as one who believes in the righteous rule by the people and not by conquers, I hate you." Suzaku stared at him. "However," he continued, "I don't want to see Daemon get the upper hand. The last thing humanity needs right now is Occulta."

"Who? What?"

"Never mind that, listen carefully. That disc you have is somehow vital to the enemy."

"So that guy back there was with this enemy? Daemon, right?" The merc shook his head.

"No, that guy's name was Ghost. He made his first appearance last year and I don't know squat about him, and I'm the head of my organization! No, I'm talking about the one who hired the Serpents and killed off the Britannian Royal Family, or at least most of it."

"But what is his name? And what is yours? I can't just call you 'merc'."

"Deep-throat?" he said with a shrug.

"What? No, your name, not an alias."

"That's the problem; my birth name is just too painful to bring up and the name I use right now is an alias in itself."

"Then what am I supposed to call you?"

"Pseudo?" he suggested with another shrug as he turned into an alley.

"That won't work either," Suzaku snapped as they got onto the freeway.

"Well I don't know what to tell you, just listen."

"Why should I-"

"It's important!" the kid almost shouted back. Suzaku had to admit that he was rather taken aback, he didn't expect a commanding voice. "Keep the disk with you at all times. Take it the disc to Lloyd Asplund and have him analyze it. After that you and Lloyd need to clear out."

"I know about Lloyd but why should he help me with this thing? And why should I listen to you after you basically told me that you hate me?"

"Because we're out of options," said the young merc in a solemn voice. "The only promising way to preserve both your life and the life of others is to do as I say while I go my own way and make preparations for a contingency with an applicable fallback plan. This isn't about borders anymore, it's about survival of the fittest." He then looked to Suzaku and lowered his glasses to show brilliant blue but sad eyes. _"Who do you want to give life to? The ones without the chance, or the ones with every chance?"_

**Governor's Palace, Area 11**

Clovis and Euphiemia were in Clovis' office again, not really saying much, and still shaken over what happened the day before. Then suddenly the door burst open and a Britannian officer barged in, a panicked expression on his face.

"My Lord! It's the Chinese! They're calling on Daemon's threat!"

**Former Area 10,  
SUSA State of Indochina**

Aircraft streaked across the skies as battalions of Chinese Federation Gun-Ru Knightmares charged across the border. UMNE soldiers and Serpents retreated south, not having any heavy weapons at their immediate disposal or available reinforcements. Over the communication links, the Gun-Ru pilots were feeling near-euphoria over the faction that took over the invincible Britannian Empire overnight.

"These are the guys who brought down Britannia? Talk about terrible first impressions."

"You think just because you killed off the royal family then you can simply tell us to keep our paws off?"

"You are nothing but a bunch of punks!"

**District of Eden, SUSA**

"You think you can just stroll right in just because you got some intel from an anonymous source?" Alexander Daemon chuckled to himself, looking over the real time images of the Chinese pouring into Indochina. "I suppose you all concluded that I was bluffing, or if I did have a weapon of some sort then I wouldn't use it on my own troops." He laughed. "What fools you are, you have no idea who you're dealing with." He keyed a button on his computer. "Is it ready?"

"Yes sir, it is armed and operational."

"Very good, detonate it as soon as everyone is accounted for."

"At once Daemon."

**Indochina**

The advance of the Gun-Ru battalions had came to a sudden halt. Not because there was a problem, but because they were waiting for the infantry to catch up.

"We will have this wrapped up by sundown."

"Easy gain. Burma for breakfast, and Korea for Desert!"

"Attention all units! There's underground hatches scattered throughout the area! Something isn't right."

"Did they already have time to dig in?"

"Smash them open and lets get these punks!"

"Wait! What's that?"

"What's what?"

"It looks like a bomber, flying at high-altitude."

"It can't hit anything from up there, must be recon."

"It's releasing something!"

"Releasing what?"

"A bomb."

"One bomb? What could they be-"

"We need to get out! Get out now!"

"Why the hell should we-"

**D.E. SUSA**

"Boom."

**Indochina**

A violent explosion rocked the surrounding landscape as a mushroom-shaped cloud rose up and began to block the sky. The shock wave went on for about 10 miles in every direction, even crossing the border into Chinese territory. All of the Serpents and UMNE were underground in specially made bunkers that were prepared before the Serpents even arrived in this universe. The bomb itself was designed to detonate in the air. The Chinese, Gun-Ru or not, were either vaporized, or blown off their feet.

Hell on Earth, in the confines of a nutshell.

**Area 11**

Everyone was at the nearest available television screen as Daemon appeared again.

"And so the Chinese decided to steal some plunder. I warned what would happen if they did." On screen, Daemon paused to look at a sheet of paper. "According to the weather forecast, wind will be coming up from the sea and continue northward. I might as well apologize to the farmers, but consider this: I wasn't the one who launched an invasion, it was the rulers of the Chinese Federation."

Clovis and Euphimia continued to watch while waiting for reports, wondering what could possibly happen that made Daemon so sure of himself.

At the headquarters of the Japanese Liberation Front, they had been receiving reports from their allies in India as well as the news from the former Britannian mainland. All were shocked at how ruthless this "golden opportunity" was turning out to be.

Those at the abandoned base were still shocked, just not that surprised. The main headline of the newspaper read: NUKE IN AREA 10; Chinese Invasion Force Annihilated.

"See! What did I tell you?" Lelouch shook his head at the images placed online anonymous sources, the mushroom cloud still clearly visible.

"What kind of power is that?"

"The worst power that science has to offer," Cysgod answered Lelouch. "The power to level a single city in less than a second, and the power to wage a war of absolute fear. Nuclear fission."

"Fission?" asked Nina, still puzzled by Cysgod's earlier remark.

"Yes, discovered by a man named Albert Einstein." This made everyone, especially the students, freeze in stunned silence.

"Ah-Albert...Einstein...?" Nina asked, shaking a little.

"Yes, your unintentional namesake. Einstein, in his world, gave the scientific community the means to nuclear weapons research. Coincidentally a world war was in motion and everyone was looking for the magic bullet to end the war once and for all. Thus came the Manhattan Project. Suffice to say they succeeded. Einstein won numerous honors in the scientific and mathematics community, and was also absolutely horrified by the dropping of not one, but two atomic bombs." He then gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry though, I'm sure you're nothing like that."

**D.E. SUSA**

Overlooking various screens, the master of the UMNE, the Great Utopian, issued an order.

-FINAL PREPARATIONS ARE NOW IN EFFECT / UNITS BASED IN MYANMAR PENINSULA EXECUTE ANY AND ALL REMAINING CHINESE UNITS AND BE THUROUGH / ALL SERPENT DIVISION MEMBERS MEET IN D.E. FOR PASSING_OVER CEREMONY / ALL OTHER DIVISIONS PREPARE FOR PHASE_2 OF OPERATION: HELLFIRE / LONG LIVE OCCULTA-

**Indochina**

[Time Will Remember Us / Gabriel Shadid - PLAY]

A thick, greenish-grey fog covered the land for miles and moving steadily northward. The Chinese soldiers who were still somehow alive crawled or tried to stand. Out of the fog, UMNE soldiers in bulky suits of armor and gas masks with no sign of skin showing lumbered out of the mist. One of them approached a young man in a Chinese uniform, gasping for air and half his face nearly burned away. He raised his arm in a pleading gesture, only to have the soldier aim a rifle at his head and a single gunshot reach his ears.

[Time Will Remember Us - 1:08]

The soldiers continued like this until there was no one left. Health regardless. Age irrelevant. Gender, no longer an issue. Pilots were either dragged from their Knightmares and skewered, or burned as the soldiers shot flame throwers at their Gun-Rus. Of the few who tried to commit suicide, all were denied the chance. Those who avoided any immediate injury by being under rubble or behind walls were taken into the open and riddled with shots from multiple firearms. Farm animals and Chinese soldiers who were wearing the armored uniforms of the elite ran around, screaming and on fire. They were shot on sight. The civilians who were caught up in the fray were left to die an agonizing death, unaware that times were going to get harder for simple farmers like them, especially further north as radiation set in.

[Time Will Remember Us - END]


	17. Modus Operandi and Science

** Abandoned Base  
Area 11**

"So that's what Daemon meant by 'nuclear capabilities'."

Everyone was now engaged in a deathly silence. The resistance members, Lelouch, and CC less so; they kept shifting around, not bearing to stand still. Cysgod was sitting cross-legged on one of the crates, his hands folded around the golden pocket-watch he often kept stowed away. Milly sighed before breaking the silence.

"What could anyone do against THAT thing?" Most of the resistance members shrugged.

"Well," surmised Nagata, "Cysgod said that it was a weapon of fear. Maybe Daemon only has a limited number."

"He does," Cysgod said from his perch, "but he can always get more."

"Damn it!" Tamaki grumbled, kicking a crate in out of frustration. "How are we supposed to take down someone like him!"

"Cysgod," Lelouch got in front of the meditating Cysgod and stared him down. "You know both Daemon and Occulta better than anyone else here! What kind of person is this Daemon? Ego-centric? Prideful? Greedy?" Cysgod stared up at the ceiling for a few moments before answering.

"Ego-centric would be _half_ correct. He's more of what one would call: ideo-centric. As I said before, the overall purpose of the UMNE is a private army for radical utopianism. Daemon isn't an idiot either. He once toppled an entire country in little over 48 hours. However, he did this by simply playing on the fears of the people, exaggerating the problems of high taxation, government corruption, the treatment of workers, you get the picture. While the entire public had its attention upon a highly-publicized trial of a group of government workers, he laced the drinking water with a hallucinogenic toxin and destroyed the central hubs for communication, power, and finances. He waited until everyone was in a panic and then sent in his Divisions to finish the job."

"Didn't want to get his hands too dirty huh?" asked Sugiyama.

"Bastard," Yoshida muttered to himself. Cysgod continued on Sugiyama's question.

"Not exactly. Yeah, he enjoys being the one in charge, but he'll step in himself from time to time. Usually when something annoying to him comes up or when he wants a good challenge. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he challenged one of the Royals to a duel before he eliminated them. If you were to ask what his weakness is, it would be that he is human."

"Are you sure about that?" Lelouch asked, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing that he has done so far has even gotten close to humane."

"I'm saying that if he has a weakness, I don't know about it. He does make mistakes from time to time, however in a nutshell he is intelligent, cunning, and ruthless."

"So you're saying he's the... Professor of Crime or something?" asked Shirley. Cysgod burst out laughing and muttered something that sounded like: "like More-EE-Art-EE?"

"No, believe me when I say he's much worse."

Lelouch stood with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, thinking hard. He should actually be finding a way to thank this Daemon, or Occulta, whoever he would meet first; but after hearing Cysgod tell them about the infamous utopian, he was quite sure that both Occulta AND Daemon would be ten times worse then Britannia. He was more like him, really. Lelouch saw Daemon as the kind of person who would do anything to achieve the near-impossible, even at the expense of his own standards of morality, assuming Daemon had any at all.

"What about the UMNE?" he asked Cysgod. "We know about the Serpents, but what about Daemon's forces? Are they comprised of Knightmares, or are they infantry-based?"

"I told you before, the UMNE is divided into separate Divisions. And as to the part about Knightmares, he doesn't have any." This surprised everyone.

"He doesn't?"

"No, none of his machines run on Sukuradite. Besides, he has something that happens to be better than Knightmares."

"Like what," questioned Tamaki, "flying Knightmares?"

"He calls them by various names, but they're all of the same type. They are known as mobile weapons: bi-pedal, armored attack vehicles that can fly under their own power and can be outfitted for a whole range of purposes. As to the Divisions and there purposes, the one in charge of mobile weapon warfare is known simply as Alpha Division. In my opinion however," he chuckled, "if Alpha is sent to Japan, then that would be the best-case scenario."

"How come?" questioned Lelouch, now confused. "You just told us that Alpha Division is the Division with those machines that can easily defeat Knightmares."

"Weapons can't fight by themselves. Alpha would be the best opponent for us because their personnel is not exactly what you call 'first-rate,' quite the contrary."

"And the worst Division to come up against?" Cysgod visibly shuddered before he answered.

"The Jahrtausend Division. A single low-level member of that division would be able to tear you apart with no effort. They don't even need guns or knives to do their work."

"Why? What kind of people are they?" Lelouch glanced momentarily at CC before focusing again on Cysgod. "Are they people with Geass?"

"No. Even though Occulta has knowledge of Geass, the UMNE is currently without that ability. Besides, the monsters of Jahrtausend don't need it."

"Why? Are they youkai?" asked Kallen, holding one of the rifles they uncovered.

"I wish," said Cysgod with an air of disappointment.

"Um...what exactly is a youkai?" asked Milly.

"Oh, I know about those," Nunnally announced to the startled group.

"You do, Nunnally?" questioned Lelouch, stiffening up a little.

"Yeah, Suzaku talked about them a little. He said that they were Japanese demons." Lelouch relaxed after this, relived that it wasn't something else that she may have heard about.

"Not even close," said Cysgod, resting the side of his head on the palm of his hand. "The members of Jahrtausend Division are what you might call vrykolakas...

...vampires."

**Britannian Military Base**

Find Lloyd Aspund and have him analyze the disc! Suzaku dashed through the near-empty base. Where the heck were those people when you actually needed them? As he told the young mercenary who dropped him off at the base, he had heard of and even seen Professor Aspund, but he was never friends with the guy.

"Hey, excuse me," he flagged down a Britannian sentry, "do you know where I can find Lloyd Aspund? Its important."

"The Professor of Pudding? Sure. Camelot Lab, facility 3A."

Suzaku thanked the man and went off.

* * *

"Well if it isn't the son of the former Prime Minister, it's an honor to finally meet you Kururugi."

"Same here," replied Suzaku with a hurried bow. "Where the heck is everybody?" It was true, the humongous lab only had three current occupants: Lloyd Aspund, his assistant, and now Suzaku.

"Most of the support workers have gone home," Lloyd said, a gloomy expression appearing on his face. "The infantry and Knightmare units are all spread out, waiting for the Sons of the Serpents to show their heads while everyone else seem to have given up on the idea of Britannia in the first place. Even the Pure-Bloods are taking sick-leave. Is there some reason you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," said Suzaku, presenting the data disc. "I need to know what's on this disc."

"Oh, lets get to work then?"

Suzaku gave Lloyd the disc and Lloyd inserted it into a computer. He brought up the disc's data on the computer's screen. Suzaku and Lloyd's assistant looked over his shoulder as his eyes narrowed and he typed in a few commands. Then his eyes widened and his glasses slid down to the tip of his nose.

"What in the world!"

"What is it?" his assistant inquired. Lloyd readjusted his glasses.

"The data here is just brilliant. But there's also something here that disturbs me. See these figures here?" He lightly tapped a section of the screen. "These equations are incomplete but are significant in the use of Uranium-235 as an efficient power source. But if you read on, this same concept could be used for weaponized purposes."

"What kind of weapons?" asked Suzaku, thinking about what the young merc had said.

"Well, that kind of power can't be harnessed in firearms. The most likely avenue for this technology would be in the development of bombs. And those bombs would no-doubt be powerful."

"How powerful?"

"Well, do you have any idea how much power a Sakuradite superconductor emits?"

"Yeah."

"Imagine that power as say...I don't know...a small box of apples. Now imagine power emitted that can be visualized as a Knightmare Frame and place that Knightmare next to the box of apples."

"That much power!"

"Oh yes, very much so. By the way, where did you find-"

"We need to get out of here!"

"What?"

"I was nearly shot to get that! We need to clear out of here!"

"Nearly shot?" gasped the assistant, hand over her mouth, "where were you?"

"Ashford Academy. Some of the Serpents were snooping around while I was there."

"Cecile, ready the Lancelot's transport. Pack up as much as you can, and be sure to put some food in there as well."

"Yes sir," Cecile quickly answered and rushed off to fulfill her task. Lloyd then stood and turned to Suzaku, who was still surprised that Lloyd reacted so quickly without much effort on Suzaku's part to explain the whole situation.

"Tell me Kururugi...have you ever wanted to pilot a Knightmare?"

**Abandoned Base**

"Wait a minute, let me see if I understand what you're saying. You are telling us that one of Daemon's Divisions happens to be manned fully by undead superhumans who drink blood and turn humans into zombies?"

"In a nutshell...yes." Everyone except for CC gaped at Cysgod as Tamaki continued.

"Okay, I have to admit it, that is the most STUPIDEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD!"

"Are you saying that after seeing someone get shot in the head and live, you're not going to believe in the existence of vampires?"

"He has a point Tamaki," said Inoue. Tamaki groaned in frustration as CC raised a hand.

"What about the other Divisions? What is are chance against any of them?" Cysgod shrugged.

"Beats me, I know very little about the rest of them."

"But do we have a chance?" asked Lelouch, almost demanding an answer. "That's the most important thing here! Do we have a chance?" Cysgod was actually surprised by the young man's attitude. This guy really is all that.

"Yes...there is a chance, 25% chance of survival against any."

"Good," said an unfazed Lelouch, "tell us everything you know."


End file.
